Jerusalem, Nov 18 (IANS): Israel's economy grew at a faster pace in the third quarter of 2024, with its gross domestic product (GDP) rising by an annualised 3.8 per cent, the Central Bureau of Statistics said in an initial estimate.

For the second quarter of 2024, the bureau revised the GDP growth to 0.7 per cent year-on-year in its second estimate in September, down from an initial 1.2 per cent reported a month ago, Xinhua news agency reported.

The overall growth is mainly driven by a year-on-year 8.6-per cent increase in consumer spending and a 21.8-per cent surge in investment in fixed assets, it showed.

Meanwhile, total exports of goods and services, excluding diamonds and start-up companies, and total imports of goods and services rose by 5.2 per cent and 9.8 per cent, respectively, on a yearly basis, whereas government spending dropped by 10.8 per cent, according to the estimate.

On October 9, Israel's central bank downgraded its growth forecast for the Israeli economy from 1.5 per cent to 0.5 per cent in 2024, citing lower-than-expected growth in the first half of this year and the economic fallout from the recent security deterioration.