JERUSALEM, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Israel's economy remained robust in the first quarter of 2018 with the gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 4.2 percent year on year, according to preliminary figures by the Central Bureau of Statistics of Israel Wednesday.
Private consumption expenditure, a major drive pushing the Israeli economic development, got a year-on-year growth of 10 percent in the first quarter, while the annual growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 was merely 2.5 percent.
General government spending increased by 11.3 percent from a year ago.
The annual growth for the exports of goods and services reached 7.2 percent in the quarter, while that for the exports of goods and services (excluding diamonds and start-up companies) was 11.4 percent.
In the first quarter, imports of goods and services increased by 23.1 percent from a year ago. But excluding defense imports, ships, aircraft and diamonds, imports of goods and services were up merely 6.4 percent.
