Israel leads the Middle East in the rate of industrial production and income, and has also achieved a substantial increase in agricultural income, according to a United Nations report on economic developments in the Middle East published here today. The report covers in detail the economies of Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria during the years 1961-1963.
Israel’s rise in industrial earnings was due mainly to manufacturing, but was also contributed to by the metal, chemical food and mining industries, the report showed. Israel’s index of industrial production was reported to have risen by 31 per cent during the two-year period under study. According to the UN, the contribution of industry to the incomes of Iraq, Lebanon and Syria remained “relatively small ” during the same period.
In Israel’s agricultural income, these two years saw a rise of 23 per cent. Israel’s exports, the report said, also rose significantly during this time, with an increase in the sale of manufactured goods. The ratio of agricultural exports to total exports had declined.
The UN study found that a “substantial” trade deficit continued in Israel. A marked increase was shown in the country’s imports of food stuffs, raw materials and capital goods. Although most of Israel’s imports came from Western European countries, her exports since 1960 have, according to statistics published in the report, found new markets in several countries.
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