Jerusalem, 23 June, 2025 (TPS-IL) — The Bank of Israel reported that in the first quarter of 2025, the balance of nonfinancial private sector debt (both business and household) increased to approximately 2.3 trillion Shekels ($660 billion – 1.3%). The annual growth rate of outstanding debt continued to be positive, at about 6.8% in the quarter, although it was lower than the previous quarter’s rate of 7%.
The balance of business sector debt increased by about 1.5% – about 21 billion Shekels ($6 billion) during the first quarter, to about 1.4 trillion Shekels ($400 billion). This was mainly due to net debt raised, made up of bank loans and debt raised through tradable bonds in Israel.
Bond issuances in the business sector in Israel totaled about 16 billion Shekels ($4.6 billion) during the first quarter, similar to the quarterly average of the previous four quarters. About half of the bond issuances in the quarter were by companies in the construction and real estate industry, which continues to lead bond issuances similar to previous years.
The balance of household debt also continued to increase during the quarter, to about 855 billion Shekels ($245 billion), mainly due to an increase in the balance of housing debt – about 7 billion Shekels ($2 billion), 1.2% – which was due to new mortgage volume from banks. The balance of non-housing debt also grew, by about 0.7%, to 237 billion Shekels ($68 billion).