JERUSALEM, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Israel's hi-tech industries' exports rose by 16.2 percent in the first five months of 2020 despite the COVID-19 crisis, according to a report released by the state's Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
According to the report, Israeli hi-tech exports (excluding start-up companies) totaled 12.9 billion U.S. dollars in January-May, compared to 11.1 billion dollars in the first five months of 2019.
Of this, Israeli exports of computer programming, consultancy, data processing and web portals amounted to 9.4 billion dollars in January-May this year, an increase of 16.8 percent compared to a total of 8.05 billion dollars in 2019.
However, Israeli exports of scientific research and development (R&D) fell by 38.1 percent, from 4.2 billion dollars in January-May 2019 to 2.6 billion in the current year.
Exports of services from start-up companies fell from 2.3 billion dollars to just 259 million dollars in January-May, compared to the same period last year, a decline of 88.7 percent.
Exports of manufacturing, mining and quarrying services remained unchanged, while transportation services exports fell by 20.9 percent, and travel services exports fell by 50 percent.
Total Israeli exports in the first five months of 2020 amounted to 20.4 billion dollars, a decrease of 8.9 percent compared to 22.4 billion dollars in January-May 2019. Enditem
