With 2021 coming to a close, Israel’s Ministry of Economic Affairs released new data for the year. One figure that stood out was an impressive increase of almost 20 percent in exports, valued at close to $140 billion. The data also showed the strength and importance of the high-tech sector in the Israeli economy.

The Ministry’s Foreign Trade Administration noted this was the first time that the export of services exceeded the export of goods, with an anticipated 51 percent of all exports. Service exports are, for the most part, high-tech products such as programs, cybersecurity both offensive and defensive, and more. The greatest export growth was sales of start-up companies, which grew by no less than 257 percent. Exports involving programming grew by 25 percent, while the export of research and development services grew by 15 percent.

Director of the Foreign Trade Administration Ohad Cohen tells Al-Monitor that the growth in exports is especially impressive in the cyber and cyber-adjacent realms, in programming, and in programming services, which make up one of the main sources of growth in the Israeli economy. He points out that in 2015, cyber exports made up 12 percent of all exports, whereas today, they account for 24 percent, or $35 billion.

Cohen also notes that the coronavirus pandemic was actually a boon to the cyber sector, since it allowed people to work remotely, avoiding the need for large factories or the transportation of goods. This coincided with an overall global increase in cyber services. Israel is recognized for the quality of its innovative solutions in the field, exporting them and related research and development products globally.