ISRAEL: Services Travel: Expenditures of Foreign Workers 

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

Expenditures of foreign workers in Israel are calculated by number of foreign workers multiplied by estimated average expenditure of foreign worker. he 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).

Estimates of expenditure per worker are based on administrative data. The data sources for the number of foreign workers’:

  1. 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.
  2. Work permits- administrative files (border control data, Population and immigration authority).
  3. Unregistered foreign workers data based on Population and Immigration Authority.

The estimation is calculated every quarter in Balance of Payments sector. The data included in the national accounts at the export component.

Current Challenges and Conclusions

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.

In addition, 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.