Israel Update

Israel economic update

The 2021 calendar year was one of the most astounding in Israel’s brief economic history.  The following statistics support why the Israeli Shekel has risen to be one of the highest valued currencies:

·        Israel is the fastest growing economy in the OECD, recording 8.1% growth in 2021.  Israel’s population grew by 1.7% in 2021.

·        GDP growth in the fourth quarter was a whopping 16.6%, on an annualised basis, as reported by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.

·        A Dun and Bradstreet report noted that as of the end of 2021 there were around 620,000 active businesses in Israel, of which around 96.5% (about 600,000) were defined as small businesses.

·        Israel saw a formidable jump in its Gross Domestic Product from under $US400 billion to $US462 billion. The Economist conservatively forecasts 2022 growth of 4.2% and predicts that Israel will reach the half-trillion level. 

·        Some 20 years ago, Israel’s GDP per capita was only about $US15,000 and is now $US51,120 per capita.  In context, Israel’s economy has more than trebled in size (it is 3.5 times its size since the start of the century).

·        Israel’s tech firms saw exits jump an astonishing 520 percent in 2021 to an unprecedented $US81.2 billion in value, shattering all previous funding records and up from $US15.4 billion in 2020

·        Israeli startups raised an astonishing $US27.5 billion in funding during 2021, representing 140% growth over 2020 (against the average global increase this year of 71%).

·        Israel accounts for some 8% of global unicorns (private firms valued at over $US1 billion), but for just 0.1% of the global population.  The
number of new unicorns in Israel is continuing to grow at an “unprecedented rate,” with 33 new ones identified during 2021.