Monthly Review August 2022

Preface – Economic Climate

The Israeli economy is an advanced economy that belongs to the OECD organization. The GDP per capita is $52,332 and the growth rate in 2021 is estimated at 8.1%.

Israel is recovering from the Corona crisis that has affected the Israeli economy significantly since 2020. The deficit in September 2021 – August 2022 is negative -0.6% of the GDP, this is historically the lowest deficit since 1987.

The debt-to-GDP ratio is 62.3%. The unemployment rate is 3.4% but the unofficial unemployment rate is about 5%. The political unease and the coming elections will make it difficult to pass a new budget by 2023.

Along with the economic stabilization and quick growth, there has been an increase in the inflation rate, as of August the annual rate is 4.6%. The Chief Economist in the Ministry of Finance predicts a similar increase next year as well.

From a monetary point of view, the Bank of Israel is dealing with the rise of inflation. In July, the interest rate rose to 1.25% due to the rise of inflation, and it is expected to rise again.

Statistical Profile

Society

Population (July 2022): 9.568 Million

Economy

GDP per capita: $ 52,332

Inflation (August 2022): 4.6% Annual Growth Rate

Current Account Balance (Q2 2022): 2.89% of GDP

Trade in Goods and Services (August 2022): $14.39 billion

Finance

US Dollar Exchange rate (August 2022): NIS 3.29

Euro Exchange rate (August 2022): NIS 3.34

Long-term interest rates (August 2022): 2.49% Per Annum

Short-term interest rates (August 2022): 2.01% Per Annum

Government

Debt to GDP ratio: 62.3%

Deficit to GDP (September 2021 to August 2022): -0.6%

Motorization

Level of Motorization (2021): 406 Vehicles/1,000 Residence

Innovation and Technology

Gross Domestic Spending on R&D (2020): 5.43% of GDP

Environment

CO2 Emissions (2018): 6.98 Tonnes Per Capita

Jobs

Employment Rate (Q2 2022): 69.03% of Working Age Population

Official Unemployment Rate (July 2022): 3.4% of Labour Force

Unofficial Unemployment Rate (including non-paid absence due to Covid-19): 5% of Labour Force

New Cars and CV Registrations

 New Passenger Car Registration: Jan-August 2022

Passenger car registration: a decrease of 22.8% compared with August 2021; Since January 2022, a decrease of 15.4% compared with Jan-August 2021.

In August 2022, the Israeli passenger car market registered 20,504 new cars. This figure represents a decrease of 22.8% compared with August 2021. Since January 2022, 201,212 new cars were registered – a decrease of 15.4% compared with the first 8 months of 2021. For the first time in Israel, an EV model is the best seller in August, with Geely Geometry C recording 1,002 sales. 

New Passenger Cars Registration According to Brands: Jan-August 2022

New CV above 3.5 ton Registration: Jan-August 2022

Commercial Vehicles above 3.5 ton registration: -2.8% compared with August 2021. Since the beginning of the year, a decrease of 5.8% in registrations.

In August 2022, the Israeli market for CV above 3.5 ton registered a decrease of 2.8% with 1,642 new registrations, compared with 1,690 units in August 2021. Since January, 11,750 units were registered – a decrease of 5.8% compared with Jan-August 2021.

New CV above 3.5 ton Registration According to Brands: Jan-August 2022

New Bus Registration According to Brands: Jan-August 2022

Israel's Auto and Auto-Tech industry

Upstream Cyber Security Published H1 '2022 Automotive Cyber Trend Report

Upstream, an Israeli based company that developed a platform for securing connected vehicles and mobility services, published its H1 '2022 Automotive Cyber Trend Report. According to the report, the increasing adoption rate of EVs is also driving 3 types of emerging risks: a growing number of reported security vulnerabilities in charging stations could prove as the EVs revolution's Achilles heel, and cyber-attacks on connected vehicles are increasingly relying on APIs which interface with mission-critical systems, and current macroeconomic conditions are drawing adversaries' attention and pose a threat to global supply chains. 

TERALIGHT and Schnapp to Collaborate in EV Charging Stations

TERALIGHT, a solar energy company, and Schnapp, the largest battery distributor in Israel, will collaborate in installing and operating EV charging stations. TERALIGHT will supply the charging stations with electricity produced by solar energy, and Schnapp will install and operate the charging stations nationwide. The two companies will concentrate on public fast DC charging stations.

Mahindra Racing Chooses Israeli Cybersecurity Sygnia

Mahindra Racing which is currently competing in the Formula-E series, chose Israeli Sygnia as its cybersecurity partner. Sygnia will provide cutting-edge security for Mahindra's racing team, which depends heavily on cloud computing to gather, track and analyze data from the track. As part of the partnership, the Sygnia logo

will be featured on Mahindra's M8ELECTRO race cars throughout the 2022 FIA Formula E season.

Pango to Add Interactive Map of EV Charging Stations to its App

Pango, one of the leading and most popular parking and smart mobility apps in Israel, will add an interactive map of EV charging stations. As a response to the growing number of EVs sold in Israel, the new feature will enable them to find and navigate their way to the nearest charging stations. The app will show all relevant information about the station – regular/fast, types of connectors, etc. – and thanks to a collaboration with EV-Edge, Afcon, Gnrgy, and Sonol EVI, customers will also be able to pay for charging via the app.

Ashdod Port to use Spinframe's Vehicle Damage Detection Technology

Ashdod Port, Israel's leading seaport, will use a vehicle damage detection platform developed by Spinframe, to detect, inspect, and document damages incurred to vehicles arriving at the port. Spinframe developed the real-time, AI enables platform, based on optimal 360 degrees of visualization of the vehicles.

Ministry of Energy Launches an App that Shows EV Charging Station Locations

The Israeli ministry of energy launched a beta version of an app that gathers, stores, and displays data from all EV charging station suppliers that won ministry tenders. Users can find charging stations, navigate and see relevant information such as availability, charging times, and charging prices. The app was developed in collaboration with parking app company Cello (formerly Cellopark(, and is called CelloCharge.

Asterra's Discovers Underground Lithium Deposits From Space

Prices of Lithium, the mineral required for producing EV batteries, have reached an all-time high this year. Asterra, an Israeli developer of algorithm-based AI technology for analyzing SAR data from satellites, announced that it had identified lithium deposits underground and that the findings were confirmed at the ground level and are "significant"