Israel's imports from China hit record 13.1 bln USD in 2022: report

JERUSALEM, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israel's total imports of goods from China, excluding diamonds, reached an annual record of 13.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, said a report issued by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

The 2022 figure represents an increase of 22.4 percent from 2021, when Israel imported 10.7 billion dollars worth of goods from China, the report showed.

China has remained Israel's largest source of imports for the third consecutive year, accounting for 12.9 percent of all Israeli imports, excluding diamonds. The main Israeli imports from China are machinery, electrical equipment, metals and textiles.

The United States is Israel's second largest source of imports. Israel's imports from the U.S., excluding diamonds, amounted to 9.3 billion dollars, or 9.2 percent of total Israeli imports last year.

The bureau noted that China is among the seven countries from which the most significant increases in Israeli imports were recorded last year, along with Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United States, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Israeli imports from the UAE, with which Israel signed a peace agreement in September 2020, jumped 213 percent year-on-year in 2022, reaching 1.37 billion dollars, excluding diamonds.

Israeli exports to China amounted to 4.5 billion dollars in 2022, registering a year-on-year increase of about 4.5 percent, the report showed.