Israel's economy contracted by 2.6% during 2020, the year defined by the coronavirus pandemic, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday, revising from an earlier estimate of a decline by 2.5%.
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Helped by its record-setting vaccination campaign, the country looks to emerge from the trying period, as earlier in the day the Health Ministry scrapped the ruling demanding that Israelis wear masks outdoors amid declining infection numbers.
The Central Bureau of Statistics also reported that the number of job vacancie for the period of January to March 2021 was at a record 112,500 as of last month.
While the unemployment rate has fallen to below 10% in April, compared to 16% at the height of the pandemic, it remains surprisingly high.
CBS data showed that the increase in the number of job vacancies was evident across all sectors, including the hospitality and food industries, and the entertainment and trade industries. In most of the industries surveyed, the number of job vacancies is even higher than that offered prior to the COVID crisis
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In the fourth quarter of 2020, however, Israel's gross domestic product grew by an impressive annualized rate of 6.5%, buoyed by the beginning of the vaccine rollout and an increase in car imports.
According to the third and final revision issued by the bureau, private consumption in Israel in 2020 shrank by 9.5%, as it underwent three nationwide lockdowns to curb morbidity.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
