Group’s Figures Attest to Israel’s Economic Success, Says Chairman

YERUSHALAYIM
Manufacturer’s Association Chairman Shraga Brosh. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Figures released by the Israel Manufacturers Association on the occasion of Independence Day show the economic progress made since pre-State days through the country’s 71st anniversary. The figures show that “Israel is a model for international development,” said Association head Shraga Brosh.

In 1936, the first year for which figures were available, there were 1,500 factories and industrial plants in the country, employing 28,000 people. By 1952, 98,000 people were employed in factories and industrial concerns, and in 1965 that number shot up to 223,000. At the end of 2017, the last year for which figures were available, there were 13,500 industrial and manufacturing concerns in Israel, employing 378,641 people.

Dramatic growth is also seen in the level of exports by Israeli companies. In 1948, industrial exports amounted to just $18 million, jumping to over $5 billion by 1980. In 2018, industrial exports were worth nearly $60 billion, the Association report said.

Also growing significantly was the country’s per capita GDP. Throughout the 1950s, that figure never cleared the level of NIS 10,000 in current shekel terms, with most of the activity behind the figure government-sponsored; at the end of 2018, the figure was NIS 120,000, the large majority produced by the private sector, the Association said.

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