Services Expected to Catch up with Goods in Share of Overall Exports from Israel

Revenues from Israeli services export have doubled in the past five years, from a monthly average of $2 billion to $4 billion, according to a new report on the state of Israel’s export of services, published on Tuesday by Israel’s central bureau of statistics.

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According to the report, services export in 2017 was valued at $45 billion. In the past decade, the share of services out of Israel's overall export went up from 30% to 45%. The Israeli governmental Bureau of Statistics forecasted that in 2018, revenues of exported services will catch up to those of exported goods.

Ramzi Gabbay, chairman of the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute. Photo: Amit Shaal

The trend reflects a global shift towards the export of services. Data from an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report from February 2017 show that in 2014, services made up 32% of global exports. That same year, services made up 36% of Israeli exports. The IMF links the rise in services exports to global technological revolution, with tech services making up a larger piece of the global exports pie.

The virtual characteristics of these services make them cheaper to export, according to the IMF report. Growth strategies based on service-focused exports are likely to become a new global norm, the report said.

In Israel, tech services make up more than half of exported services, according to the central bureau of statistics.