Index of Economic Activity rose 0.2% in February

Bank of Israel Press Releases

Published March 18th, 2026

Detected March 27th, 2026

Summary

The Bank of Israel reported that the monthly Index of Economic Activity increased by 0.2 percent in February 2026. This growth is less than in the preceding three months and reflects data prior to recent geopolitical events.

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What changed

The Bank of Israel's monthly Index of Economic Activity showed a 0.2 percent increase in February 2026, a slower pace compared to the previous three months. The index's growth was influenced by positive data on imports of manufacturing inputs, durable consumer goods, and investment assets, as well as the performance of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. However, moderating factors included trade and services revenue figures, goods and manufacturing exports, job vacancies, employee posts, indirect taxes, and gasoline consumption.

This report provides an update on economic activity based on data available up to February 2026 and does not incorporate the economic implications of Operation Roaring Lion, which commenced on February 28, 2026. The index's recent performance is also below the long-term growth trend, and previous estimates for recent months have been revised downward due to the completion of data. Compliance officers should note that this is an informational release regarding economic indicators and does not impose new regulatory requirements.

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The monthly Index of Economic Activity increased by 0.2 percent in February

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The monthly Index of Economic Activity increased by 0.2 percent in February

The monthly Index of Economic Activity increased by 0.2 percent in February, less than in the previous three months. 18/03/2026 Share: To view this press release as a word file, click here

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The monthly Index of Economic Activity [1] increased by 0.2 percent in February, less than in the previous three months. The index this month reflects the average monthly growth estimate for the three months from December 2025 to February 2026, and does not reflect the economic implications of Operation Roaring Lion, which began on February 28. The Index was positively influenced by data on the import of manufacturing inputs in February, the import of durable consumer goods in January and February, the import of investment assets in January, and the general shares index on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in recent months.

In contrast, figures for trade and services revenue in December, goods exports and manufacturing exports in February, job vacancies in January and February, the number of employee posts, indirect taxes net of legislative changes, and gasoline consumption in January moderated the increase in the Index (Tables 1 and 2).

The pace of increase of the index is below the long-term growth trend (about 0.3 percent).

The Index for recent months was revised downward with the completion of data that were previously missing.

Figure 1 presents the Index data over the past two years. Table 1 presents the contributions of the Index’s components to the overall estimate and revisions to the Index, and Table 2 presents the monthly rate of change in the Index’s components.

FIGURE 1: The Monthly Index of Economic Activity

The table presents the contribution of each group of components in the monthly index, such that the monthly estimate constitutes the sum of the contributions of each of the components detailed in the table. Some of the raw data influence the monthly estimate with a lag or influence the estimates of several months.

[1] The monthly Index of Economic Activity reflects the three-month average of the estimated monthly growth of GDP. The estimate is based on a model developed at the Bank of Israel (Ginker and Suhoy, 2021).

This page was last updated on: 23/03/2026