JNS.org – Israeli service exports, notably high-tech exports, have increased by 160 percent over the last decade from $21.5 billion in 2009 to almost $56 billion in 2019, the Foreign Trade Administration announced on Monday.

This year alone, service exports increased by approximately 11.7 percent and represented approximately 49 percent of all exports from Israel.

The number of Israeli exports of services and goods are predicted to break a record this year as full-year revenues for 2019 head toward $114 billion. The forecasted export value represents a 4.5 percent increase from 2018 and is some 68 percent higher than 2009 when exports totaled approximately $67.7 billion, according to The Jerusalem Post, which also noted that over the past decade, exports have increased by an annual average of 5.3 percent.

“The export data for the past decade is proof of the good health of the Israeli economy,” said Economy Minister Eli Cohen. “Israeli exports are of great importance to the Israeli economy. It is the driver of economic growth and a central source of stable employment, and economic and social prosperity.”

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Total exports, excluding diamonds, to Asian countries grew from 18 percent in 2009 to 22 percent in 2019, largely due to a 402 percent jump in exports to China over the past decade. Exports to Japan and Taiwan increased by 73 percent and 38 percent, respectively, while in Latin America exports grew by more than 40 percent, or approximately $584 million, over the past decade.

A contributing factor to the increase in exports is the seven new free trade agreements Israel signed with countries over the past decade, including Canada, Ukraine, Colombia and South Korea. The Foreign Trade Administration is currently in negotiations to secure agreements with several major trading partners, including China, Russia, Vietnam and Kazakhstan, The Jerusalem Post reported.