Economy
The Israeli economy is a success story. Even though it has hardly any natural resources, and in spite of the wars and the waves of immigration that have placed an enormous load on it, Israel is placed among the most prosperous countries in the world. Two of the reasons for Israel’s economical success are external aid, totaling some 100 billion dollars to date, and an educated work force.
Since its establishment, Israel’s exports have grown from some 30 million dollars a year to over 30 billion dollars a year. Over this period, many changes have occurred in the Israeli economy. In the beginning, the State’s main exports were citrus fruit, as well as processed diamonds and some industrial products. Today, on the other hand, most of its exports consist of the products of high-tech industries in diverse areas such as electronics, software, hardware, optics, communications and medical instrumentation.
In the course of time, Israel’s economical ideology has also changed. In the beginning, the economy was prominently centralist, characterized by much State involvement in economic activity. Following political change in 1977, Israel’s economical ideology changed and, since the 1980s, the governments of Israel have adopted a liberal economical policy.
The GDP of the Israeli economy is some 154 billion dollars (51st place in the world), while the GDP per person is some 22,944 dollars (44th place in the world). Its exports total some 42 billion dollars a year, while its imports total some 45 billion dollars a year. Its annual growth rate is about 5%, the inflation rate is around 2%, and the unemployment rate is 8.9%. The Israeli economy’s predominant sector is high-tech, which became the driving force behind the country’s economic growth in the 1990s. Other prominent sectors in the Israeli economy are phamaceuticals, chemicals, tourism, the military industry, the metal industry and polished diamonds.
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