Israeli exports of goods and services are projected to reach a record high of $165 billion in 2022, up 15% from 2021’s $143 billion in exports (itself a previous record), the Ministry of Economy and Industry announced in a new trade report on Wednesday. The ministry said the data was gleaned from trade activity in the first half of 2022 as well as additional data forecasting by the ministry’s Foreign Trade Administration (FTA). In 2020, Israeli exports reached $114 billion, preceded by $117 billion in 2019, according to the figures. The newest report showed that in 2021, as projected, the exports of “services” — a loose term that includes Israeli technology services like software and various research and development (R&D) solutions — exceeded exports of goods for the first time, with 52% for services and 48% for goods. Israel’s tech sector is partly responsible for this increase due to a bumper year for investments and exits (defined as merger and acquisition deals or initial public offerings of shares). Tech exports including programming and software, IT consulting and IT services accounted for 46% of all services exports in 2021, according to the report, while scientific R&D and scientific and technical services made up 17% together. “Other” tech services by Israeli companies made up 4%.
Exports of programming services and research and development services grew by 26% in 2021, compared to 2020, according to the report. Overall in 2021, services exports amounted to $74 billion and goods accounted for $69 billion following an “exceptional” growth rate of 17% over 2020’s commodities data, the report said. This includes diamonds, Israel’s strongest commodities subsector. A majority of Israeli exports (not including diamonds) went to European Union countries (26%), followed by North America (25%) and Asia (22%). Exports to Mideast and North African countries grew by 112% in 2021, compared to 2020, according to the report, with a majority going to Egypt (40%), followed by the United Arab Emirates (25%) and Jordan (21%).