In addition, if there will be no change in the employment rate of the Arab and ultra-Orthodox sectors, aside from the trend of slow improvement seen in recent years, the increase in the share of these groups in the population will also lead to a decline in the participation rate and the overall employment rate.
These demographic changes, which are seen already today, are also expected to impact markedly on future growth. Thus, if there won’t be a continuation of the process of rising participation rates of the Arab and ultra-Orthodox populations, the combined demographic changes are expected to reduce future annual growth by around 0.6 percentage points.