Despite reports of rising inflation and signs of a slowing economy, there was an increase in the purchase of appliances in June as compared to June 2007. Customs officials report an 8% increase in the number of imported refrigerators and a 37% increase in washing machines.

There were also increases regarding other appliances – clothes dryers (21%), dishwashers (37%), and televisions (65%). There was an 8% decline in the number of video machine imports, attributed to their declining popularity.

Vehicles on the other hand were down in June, with 21,134 cars imported as compared to 23,448 in June 2007. Regarding commercial vehicles, there was a 70% increase.

In the first six months of 2008, 118,958 cars were imported, representing a 23% increase over the same time period last year.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)