Israeli Economy

The technological advancement of Israel is very high. Over the past 20 years or so, the State of Israel has developed its agriculture and industry with high technology equipment. Israel has contributed in the fields of genetics, medicine, agriculture, computer sciences, electronics, optics, engineering, and many others. And just recently, Israeli scientists developed a molecular bio computer that could help cure cancer. Since the year 2005, Israel’s economy has risen 4-5.2% every year. The war with Lebanon made GDP growth slow, but it rebounded quickly because of foreign investments, tax revenue, and private consumption levels. Israel has very many natural resources including timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, and sands. The labor force consists of 2.6 million Israelis. 1.8% of the labor goes to agriculture, forestry and fishing and manufacturing. 5.3% goes to construction, 15.7% goes to wholesale and retail, 6.3% goes to transport storage and communications, 5.3% goes to finance and business, 28.6% goes to public services, and 11.5% goes to personal and others.

The educational system of Israel is much like the U.S. It consists of three tiers: primary education is for grades 1-6, middle school is grades 7-9, and high school are grades 10-12. After graduating from secondary education, students either serve in the Israel Defense Forces or they may request to go to a college or university that is paid for by the army. If a person chooses to enlist with the Israel Defense Forces first, then after they serve their time, the person can go on to higher education and students only have to pay a small part of the tuition. Accordingly, the literacy rate is high: 95.4%.

In the state of Israel, the per capita GDP is about the same as the U.S. at $26,200. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other problems led to a small decline in 2001, but it bounced right back. The average life expectancy of the nation is at the age of 75. For males, life expectancy is at 77.33 years and for females its 81.7 years.