The Composite State of the Economy Index increased by 0.7 percent in December, its largest increase in 2024. The increase reflects a strengthening of economic activity following the ceasefire in the north. The level of the index is still 0.8 percent lower than it was in September 2023 (before the war).
The Index was positively influenced by increases in the imports of production inputs, goods exports, and credit card purchases (December), and the Industrial Production index and the retail trade revenue index (November). In contrast, the import of consumption goods (December), the services revenue index (November), and services exports and employee posts (October) declined, which negatively influenced the index.
Table 1 presents the retroactive revisions to the Index for previous months. Table 2 presents the development of components of the Index in the past few months.
Table 1: Revisions in the Composite Index (percent)
|
Revision |
Previous figure |
New figure |
|
December |
|
0.68 |
|
November |
0.03 |
0.08 |
|
October |
0.03 |
0.04 |
|
September |
-0.06 |
0.05 |
|
August |
-0.26 |
-0.37 |
|
July |
0.08 |
0.11 |
Table 2: Changes in the Index components in recent months
(monthly change, percent, unless otherwise noted)
|
|
December |
November |
October |
September |
|
Industrial Production Index (excluding mining and quarrying) |
|
0.4 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
|
Services Revenue Index (excluding education and public administration) |
|
-0.4 |
-2.1 |
0.0 |
|
Retail Trade Revenue Index |
|
1.7 |
1.3 |
4.0 |
|
Imports of consumption goods1 |
-3.8 |
9.1 |
-0.2 |
5.9 |
|
Imports of production inputs (excluding fuels)1 |
2.4 |
1.2 |
-4.6 |
14.3 |
|
Goods exports (excluding agriculture)1 |
12.0 |
-9.9 |
3.3 |
-4.4 |
|
Services exports (excluding transportation)2 |
|
|
-0.1 |
-1.2 |
|
Employee posts in the private sector |
|
|
-0.1 |
0.2 |
|
Job vacancy rate in the business sector3 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
|
Building starts4 |
|
|
|
|
|
Credit card purchases5 |
1.1 |
1.9 |
0.5 |
1.5 |
1 Goods imports and exports are calculated in fixed prices (adjusted for changes in foreign trade price indices).
2 Services exports are calculated in real terms using the Consumer Price Index, and are comprised of the export of other business services and the export of tourism services.
3 The job vacancy rate is calculated out of the total number of employed people, and is included in the index at its seasonally adjusted level.
4 Since the Central Bureau of Statistics publishes data on building starts once per quarter, the data integrated into the model are at a monthly frequency based on additional sources, such that the distribution is consistent with the quarterly data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (in percent, seasonally adjusted).
5 The credit card purchases figure is the monthly seasonally adjusted change according to Central Bureau of Statistics publications. When the CBS figure for a month is not available, the figure listed is an estimate based on the monthly rate of change according to daily data from SHVA, seasonally adjusted.
Detailed explanations regarding how the Composite Index is calculated, as well as detailed long-term tables, can be found at: