## Israel: Services Travel: Expenditures of foreign workers

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Israel: Services Travel: Expenditures of foreign workers](https://www.imf.org/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/israel-services-travel-expenditures-of-foreign-workers)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/israel-services-travel-expenditures-of-foreign-workers/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/israel-services-travel-expenditures-of-foreign-workers/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/israel-services-travel-expenditures-of-foreign-workers/bundle-manifest.json)

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### Introduction
- Export of Travel services includes goods and services for own use from the domestic economy, expenditures of tourists- business and personal.
- Travel services- Business are divided into 2 groups: expenditures of foreign workers and other.
- Expenditures of illegal foreign workers in Israel are included in this item.

### Scope, Methodology, Compilation Practices, and Data Sources
- Estimation approach:
  - Expenditures of foreign workers in Israel are calculated by number of foreign workers multiplied by estimated average expenditure of foreign worker.
  - The estimation is calculated every quarter in Balance of Payments sector.
  - The data included in the national accounts at the export component.
- Coverage rules:
  - The number of foreign workers include: reported employee and unrecorded employee, and do not include Palestinian workers (the assumption is that their expenses are low because they return home every night).
- Data sources for the number of foreign workers:
  - Illegal workers: information about entries of residents from developing countries which staying above a certain time in Israel. The data is derived from Population and immigration authority and the Demographic department in the CBS.
  - Work permits: administrative files (border control data, Population and immigration authority).
  - Unregistered foreign workers: data based on Population and Immigration Authority.
- Basis for expenditure estimates:
  - Estimates of expenditure per worker are based on administrative data.

### Current Challenges and Conclusions
- Exclusion and assumptions:
  - The expenses of Palestinian workers are not included in the estimation. They return home every night, therefore the assumption is that they don't have accommodation and food expenditures.
  - However, some of the workers travel by public transport. The plan is to estimate those expenses and to add it to the estimate.
- Coverage inconsistency with guidelines:
  - According to the guidelines, workers who are in Israel for up to one year must be included, but currently data are also included foreign workers who stay for over a year.
  - This is being developed and will be updated in the future.

---


## References

- [Informal Economy Reports](https://www.imf.org/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/israel-services-travel-expenditures-of-foreign-workers_