poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%:
2.8%

highest 10%: 26.9% (1992)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.1% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 2.4 million (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: public services 31.2%, manufacturing
20.2%, finance and business 13.1%, commerce 12.8%, construction
7.5%, personal and other services 6.4%, transport, storage, and
communications 6.2%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 2.6% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 9% (2000 est.)

Budget: revenues: $40 billion

expenditures: $42.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(2000 est.)

Industries: high-technology projects (including aviation,
communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical
electronics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food,
beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, diamond cutting

Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2000)

Electricity - production: 35.437 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 99.89%

hydro: 0.11%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 31.899 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 1.061 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 4 million kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry,
dairy products

Exports: $31.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, software, cut
diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel

Exports - partners: US 36%, UK 6%, Benelux 5%, Hong Kong 4%,
Netherlands 4% (1999)

Imports: $35.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports - commodities: raw materials, military equipment, investment
goods, rough diamonds, fuels, consumer goods

Imports - partners: US 20%, Benelux 11%, Germany 8%, UK 8%,
Switzerland 6%, Italy 5% (1999)

Debt - external: $38 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $1.1 billion from the US (1999)

Currency: new Israeli shekel (ILS)

Currency code: ILS

Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.0810 (December
2000), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997),
3.1917 (1996)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Israel Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 2.8 million (1999)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.5 million (1999)

Telephone system: general assessment: most highly developed system
in the Middle East although not the largest

domestic: good system o