Jerusalem, 18 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released the estimates of economic activity in businesses in evacuated communities (northern towns and areas near Gaza) where residents left due to the war )are based on VAT revenue data combined with credit card purchase data, which show a return to pre-war levels.
Estimates are presented in current prices and without seasonal adjustment.
The comparison is for the period January-September 2023 (pre-war) compared to the following quarters.
Analysis of economic activity in Kiryat Shmona:
In the third quarter of 2025, the level of economic activity in Kiryat Shmona returned for the first time to the level it was on the eve of the war. This is evident from both an analysis of the credit card purchase volume index and an analysis of total VAT revenue data for businesses located in Kiryat Shmona.
Analysis of economic activity in selected localities in the north and south:
Economic activity in Sderot experienced a sharp recovery in mid-2024. In contrast, during the same period in Kiryat Shmona, the credit purchases index still remained at a low level of 30% of pre-war activity, and the recovery only began in early 2025.
Although the ceasefire in the north went into effect at the end of November 2024, the credit card purchase index in Kiryat Shmona and Shlomi remained low even in the first half of 2025.
Unlike Kiryat Shmona and Shlomi, where the credit purchases index in the third quarter of 2025 is higher than its pre-war level, the index for businesses in Metula is 70% lower than its pre-war level.