UK
UK-Israel trade increased last year despite Gaza War and BDS campaigns
The growth was driven by a surge of financial services exports to the Jewish state and the returning influx of IT firms
November 5, 2025 13:52
The growth was driven by a surge of financial services exports to the Jewish state and the returning influx of IT firms
November 5, 2025 13:52Trade between the UK and Israel rose substantially last year, despite the British government’s increasing condemnation of the Gaza War and the growing traction of boycott campaigns.
Official figures released by the Department for Business and Trade showed that total trade in goods and services between the two nations amounted to £6.2 billion in the year to June 30 2025.
This represented a 3.2 per cent, or £218 million, increase over the period and placed Israel 42nd on the list of the UK’s largest trading partner, roughly equivalent to Mexico, Hungary and Finland.
UK exports for Israel accounted for much of the growth, increasing by 10.5 per cent, largely driven by significant growth in business and financial services exports.
But there were regressions in goods exports, particularly in mechanical power generators and pharmaceutical products.
Imports also declined by 4.6 per cent overall, with a 35.4 per cent drop in mineral manufactures, 22.2 per cent in plastic and 14.2 per cent in fruit and vegetables.
In services, though, this was counterbalanced by a 40.4 per cent surge in telecommunications and IT services brought in from Israel.
Most of the goods trade was centred in the UK’s South East, with 14.1 per cent of exports and 21.5 per cent of imports moving through London alone.
This was largely matched by the Midlands, though a healthy 7.5 per cent of British exports to the Jewish state came from the North East.
Meanwhile, foreign direct investment in Israel was down in the year to 2023 (the latest period for which data is available) saw a decline of £146 million, resulting in the UK’s net divestment from Israel hitting £6.6 billion since 2020.
The reverse data, foreign direct investment in the UK from Israel, is not yet available.
Alan Aziz, UK CEO of Technion – a branch of Haifa’s tech-focussed research university – told the JC: “It’s great to see the level of trade between the UK and Israel so high, especially in science, innovation and technology.
"The Technion is the primary driver of the Israeli high-tech economy and thus directly facilitates a large proportion of Israeli exports, including those to the UK.
"Graduates of the Technion Institute of Technology make up more than 70 per cent of founders and CEOs of high-tech companies. They also lead two-thirds of Israeli companies listed on NASDAQ and account for more than 54 percent of Israel’s industrial exports.”
A government spokesperson said: “Exports to Israel support thousands of UK jobs and our trade strategy will continue to support exporters to deliver our mission to grow the economy.”
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