Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reported last week that during the months of July and August, exports increased annualized by 25.6%. Goods imports for the month of August totaled $4.4 billion, and exports totaled $3.2 billion, placing the trade deficit at $1.2 billion dollars.



Import of goods (except diamonds, aircraft, vessels and energy materials) increased between June and August by 10.4%, after a decrease of 24.6% between March and May.



During the first eight months of the year, Israel's trade deficit – a trade balance in which the total volume of imports is larger than the total volume of exports – averaged at $500 million a month and $5.9 billion by annual calculation. By comparison, in 2008 the trade deficit was $13.2 billion.



Exports by all industrial export sectors in June-August; high-tech exports, 51% of total manufactured exports (excluding diamonds), rose by an annualized 21.7%, after rising by an annualized 20.3% in March-May:



Mixed high-tech exports, 27% of all manufactured exports, rose by an annualized 5.7%, after falling by an annualized 34.5% in March-May; Mixed -low technology exports, 15% of all manufactured exports, rose by an annualized 37.3%, after falling by an annualized 17.8%.



Low technology exports, 6% of all manufactured exports, rose by an annualized 2.3%, after falling by an annualized 20%.



Imports of goods totaled $4.4 billion in August. Imports of goods (excluding diamonds, ships, aircraft, and fuel) rose by an annualized 10.4% in June-August, after falling by an annualized 24.6% in March-May. The decline in the import of investment goods (excluding ships and planes) narrowed to an annualized 7.2% in June-August from 41.2% in March-May.



Of the total goods imported, 37% was raw materials, 16% machinery equipment and land vehicles for investment, 16% goods for consumption and the remaining 31% was import of diamonds, energy materials, airplanes and sea vessels.



Eighty-nine percent of the total goods exported was industrial exports, 10% was diamonds and the remaining 1% was agricultural goods.