40,000 Israeli companies have closed since October 

Some 40,000 Israeli companies have closed their doors since October, amid expectations that the number will rise to 60,000 by the end of the year, Israel’s Maariv newspaper said yesterday.

The Israeli paper cited data from the CEO of business information company CofaceBDI, Yoel Amir, saying: “This is a very high number that includes many sectors.”

The vast majority, 77 per cent, of the companies are small businesses which are most vulnerable.

He pointed out that the most affected sectors are construction and related industries such as ceramics, air conditioning, aluminium and building materials.

While trade, including fashion, furniture and household appliances and the service sector, including cafes, entertainment and entertainment services, and transportation have also been hit hard.

READ: Israel’s economy is creaking under the effects of its assault on Gaza

Tourism has been severely impacted by the war with almost non-existent foreign tourism, along with the decline in national mood.

“The damage in combat zones is more serious, but the damage to businesses is across the country, with almost no sector spared,” Amir noted.

He pointed out that “the damage is very great in all aspects for the Israeli economy,” explaining that “in the end, when companies close their doors and do not have the ability to repay debts, there is also peripheral damage to customers, suppliers and companies that are part of its working system.”

“Apart from companies closing their doors, there has been a sharp decline in corporate activity in various sectors since the beginning of the war,” he added.

Amir confirmed that in a recent opinion poll, about 56 per cent of commercial company managers in Israel said there had been a significant decline in the cope of their activities since the beginning of the war.

“We estimate that by the end of 2024, it is expected that about 60,000 companies will close in Israel. For comparison, in 2020, the year of the Corona crisis, about 74,000 companies were closed.”

He pointed out that Israeli companies face “very difficult challenges represented by a labour shortage, declining sales, a high interest rate environment and high financing costs, transportation and logistics problems, a shortage of raw materials, and inaccessibility to agricultural lands in combat zones, as well as the lack of customers involved in combat, flow difficulties, and increases in acquisition costs.”