Israel’s 12-Month Budget Deficit Reportedly Rises to 3.3% of GDP in October

Israel’s rolling 12-month budget deficit reportedly rose to 3.3% of gross domestic product at the end of October, from 3.2% at the end of September. Reports on November 9 attributed the figures to the Finance Ministry’s monthly budget-execution report. The deficit for October alone was approximately NIS 18.3 billion, compared with NIS 15.2 billion in October 2025. Government income in October was approximately NIS 46.2 billion, while spending reached about NIS 64.5 billion. From January through October, income totaled approximately NIS 503.3 billion, up about 10% from NIS 457.6 billion in the corresponding period of 2025. Spending over the first ten months of 2026 totaled approximately NIS 551.1 billion, compared with NIS 529.1 billion a year earlier, an increase of 4.2%. Defense spending rose 9.9% over that period, while civilian ministries’ spending increased 1.4%. The year-to-date deficit was approximately NIS 47.8 billion, compared with NIS 71.5 billion in January–October 2025. Tax revenue for the first ten months rose 8% in real terms. Some payments due in September were received in October because of the Jewish holidays, including roughly NIS 0.5 billion in domestic value-added tax and several hundred million shekels in direct taxes. The reported deficit target for 2026 is 4.9% of GDP.