Israel’s Economy Beats Expectations, Rebounds 38%

Israel’s economy grew by 37.9%  after exiting its first lockdown in the third quarter of the year, the Times of Israel reported on Monday. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics published the data, which was substantially more than the 24% predicted by economists.

Gross domestic product grew by 37.9%, while exports grew 44.6%, private investments in fixed assets rose 7.3%,and private spending surged 42% compared to the third quarter of 2019.

However, this information reflects when the country was emerging from its first lockdown period in March, but not how the economy reacted to the second lockdown in September.

Compared to last year, the GDP declined by 1.4%, and the economy shrunk by 3% over the first nine months of 2020, compared to 2019.

However, that was to be expected, as the world is struggling to handle the coronavirus pandemic, and respond to the economic contractions the virus has caused.

The S&P ratings agency has kept Israel’s credit outlook as a stable AA-, and forecasting the GDP will contract by 5% due to the coronavirus, and recover by 2021, with the GDP rising by 4.5%.