Trading with Israel

A brief overview

The business and economic relationship between the UK and Israel has grown strongly over recent years with bilateral trade reaching $9bn in 2017

Israeli Memberships

  • Israel is an associate member of the EU
  • Israel joined the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in 2010
  • Israel is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
  • Israel has free-trade agreements with the EU, European Free Trade Association and the USA
  • The UK & Israel have a double taxation treaty

Practicalities

  • English is widely spoken and accepted as a business language
  • The Israeli business community is familiar with UK business practices
  • The Israeli legal system is based on the British common law system
  • There is a 2 hour time difference between the UK and Israel
  • Flights between the UK and Israel take around 5 hours
  • Multiple airlines serve Tel Aviv including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, El Al, and Wizz Air from most London airports and Manchester

Israel in the UK

  • There are over 300 Israeli companies employing thousands of individuals operating in the UK representing sectors including high tech, pharmaceutical and finance.
  • We have seen Israeli tech companies grow rapidly in the UK
  • The UK is Israel’s number one destination for investment in Europe
  • Israel is the third largest investor in the UK from the Middle East region
  • Israeli investment positions in the UK exceeded £14bn in 2014 compared to £9bn in 2010
  • The London Stock Exchange is home to 28 Israeli companies with a combined market capitalisation of over $8bn

UK in Israel

  • Globally, Israel is the UK’s 46th largest trading partner and the UK’s 42nd largest export partner*
  • Services and goods exports from the UK to Israel accounted for £1bn in services and £1.2bn in goods in 2017
  • The top ten UK exports to Israel include vehicles, pharmaceuticals, general machinery and chemicals & plastics
  • UK services exported to Israel grew by 118% between 2006 and 2015, rising from £433m to £942m
  • In 2017, HMRC* estimated 6,700 VAT registered UK businesses exported goods to and 3,300 imported goods from Israel

Brexit

  • A UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement is in place and due to take effect if the UK leaves the EU with no deal.
  • The UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement is a comprehensive agreement which is the basis for economic and trade relations between the UK and Israel. It maintains the effects of the EU-Israel trade agreements in a bilateral context.
  • The UK-Israel agreement covers:
    • trade in goods – including provisions on rules of origin, preferential tariffs and quotas
    • limited areas of services, competition and intellectual property
    • wider cooperation
    • government procurement
    • conformity assessment of industrial products
  • For more information, visit the Department for International Trade website