ble 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. To earn needed foreign exchange, Israel has been
targeting high-technology niches in international markets, such as
medical scanning equipment. The influx of Jewish immigrants from the
former USSR, which topped 750,000 during the period 1989-96, initially
increased unemployment, intensified housing problems, and strained the
government budget. At the same time, the immigrants bring to the
economy valuable scientific and professional expertise.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $85.7 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.6% (1996)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $16,400 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 22%
services: 74.5%

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 11.3% (1996)

Labor force:
total: 2.2 million (1996)
by occupation : public services 29.3%, manufacturing 22.1%,
construction 6.5%, commerce 13.9%, finance and business 10.4%,
personal and other services 7.4%, transport, storage, and
communications 6.3%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 3.5%, other
0.6% (1992)

Unemployment rate: 6.5% (1996)

Budget:
revenues: $41 billion
expenditures: $53 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1996)

Industries: food processing, diamond cutting and polishing, textiles
and apparel, chemicals, metal products, military equipment, transport
equipment, electrical equipment, potash mining, high-technology
electronics, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 8% (1995)

Electricity - capacity: 6.92 million kW (1995 est.)

Electricity - production: 30.4 billion kWh (1995 est.)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 4,738 kWh (1995 est.)

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

Exports:
total value: $20.3 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities : machinery and equipment, cut diamonds, chemicals,
textiles and apparel, agricultural products, metals
partners: US, EU, Japan

Imports:
total value: $28.3 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
commodities : military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds,
oil, other productive inputs, consumer goods
partners: EU, US, Japan

Debt - external: $25.7 billion (1996)

Economic aid:
recipient : total receipts $12.14 billion of wh