*  *  *  The Israeli economy is an open economy that is greatly influenced by developments abroad, which is reflected in growth rates in the economy, which are very much connected to those around the world. The influence of activity abroad is mainly reflected in global trade, which affects demand for Israeli exports, both in goods and in services.
Goods exports are in a virtual standstill, due to the standstill in global trade. They declined slightly in 2013 and recovered slightly during 2014. Services exports showed better performance than global trade in services – meaning that the state of manufacturing was more serious than the state of the services industries, which is also a result of developments in the exchange rate.