In the first five months of 2024, Israel’s foreign trade data was released by the Central Bureau of Statistics. During this period, total imports of goods and services, excluding diamonds, were $34.96 billion, showing a decrease of $2.99 billion compared to the same period last year. Similarly, total exports amounted to $22.97 billion, which is $770 million less than the previous year.
Trade with the European Union decreased by $2.11 billion primarily due to a decrease in imports from the EU. Imports of goods from countries like Cyprus, Romania, Denmark, Bulgaria, and Ireland increased while imports from Sweden decreased by half. On the other hand, exports of goods to countries like Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Romania, Sweden, Croatia and Cyprus increased.
A significant decrease in exports was noted in countries like Czech Republic and Portugal among others as well as Poland and Slovenia. There was also a marked increase in trade with Ukraine with Israeli exports to Ukraine rising from $23.8 million to $68.6 million in the first five months of 2024
