Trade Balance in Israel

The trade balance records the value of goods traded between Israel and the rest of the world over a period, measured as the difference between exports and imports. It reflects the country's external trade activity.

Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) derives it as the difference between the value of exports and imports recorded in external trade statistics, in dollars. A positive balance is a surplus, a negative one a deficit.

The external balance is a component of GDP and a signal of competitiveness. In Israel it is best read alongside technology services exports, which underpin the current account and support the shekel (ILS) despite goods deficits.

The figures are not final: each release tends to revise earlier periods and the data come with a lag. It covers goods only, leaving out Israel's large services exports, and is volatile owing to items such as aircraft and ship imports.