Israeli economy struggling even more than expected amid grueling war, CBS data finds

Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.

Israel’s economy expanded at an even slower pace in the second quarter of the year than initially estimated, as the months-long war with the Hamas terror group continues to take a heavy toll on exports and investments, data by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by an annualized 0.7 percent in the April to June period from the previous three months, the statistics bureau says in its second estimate, a downward revision from its initial estimate of 1.2% reported on August 18. The figure is far below economists’ expectations, which ranged from 2.3% to 5% for the quarter.

The Finance Ministry recently lowered its economic growth forecast for this and next year. It now expects the economy to expand by 1.1% in 2024 and 4.4% in 2025. That is down from a previous growth forecast of 1.9% for 2024 and 4.6% for 2025.

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