posts sizable current account
deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad
and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt
is owed to the US, which is its major source of economic and
military aid. The bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict; difficulties
in the high-technology, construction, and tourist sectors; and
fiscal austerity in the face of growing inflation led to small
declines in GDP in 2001 and 2002. The economy grew at 1% in 2003,
with improvements in tourism and foreign direct investment. In 2004,
rising business and consumer confidence - as well as higher demand
for Israeli exports - boosted GDP by 2.7%.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $120.9 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
1.3% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $19,800 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 37.7%
services: 59.5% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
17.2% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
18% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 28.3% (1997)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
35.5 (2001)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
0.7% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
2.61 million (2003 est.)

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

Unemployment rate:
10.7% (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $44.98 billion
expenditures: $51.07 billion, including capital expenditures of NA
(2003)

Public debt:
108.6% of GDP (2003)

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

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:
-0.6% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
42.24 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
37.82 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
1.457 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
80 bbl/day (2001 es