Israeli Spending Shifts: Clothing Soars, Leisure Declines
Translated & summarized from Maariv by baba
Israeli credit card spending rose 8.8% year-over-year in Q3 2026, recovering from a March slump. Apparel and footwear led the increase, up 16.7%, while leisure and entertainment spending declined 1.6%. This spending pattern, with essentials comprising nearly half of purchases, is consistent with recent years, despite a significant overall increase in credit card spending in 2024.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Israeli credit card purchases rose 8.8% year-over-year in Q3 2026, recovering from a March slump.
- Apparel and footwear spending surged 16.7% in Q3 2026, leading the consumer spending increase.
- Leisure and entertainment spending declined 1.6% in Q3 2026, alongside a 1.5% drop in computer purchases.
- Travel, tourism, and hospitality spending saw a minimal 0.5% rise in Q3 2026.
- Essentials like fuel, communication, and healthcare accounted for 45% of Israeli credit card spending in 2025.
Israeli credit card purchases saw a significant rebound in the third quarter of 2026, rising 8.8% year-over-year, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This recovery follows a sharp decline in March during Operation "Iron Fist," when consumer spending hit its lowest point since the COVID-19 pandemic. By April, purchases began to increase, with the summer months showing accelerated growth.
The apparel and footwear sector experienced the most substantial rise, with spending up 16.7% from July to September. Industrial goods, including electronics and furniture, also increased by 10.1%, though at a slower pace than the previous quarter. Within this category, electronics and electrical goods rose 5.2%, while furniture sales decreased by 3.9%.
Conversely, spending on leisure and entertainment activities dropped by 1.6%, and computer and software purchases fell by 1.5%. Travel, tourism, and hospitality saw a minimal increase of 0.5%. This slight rise in travel spending, despite high outbound tourism, is attributed to the CBS data only including purchases made by Israelis within Israel, excluding foreign online bookings.
Spending on food and beverages, including restaurants and cafes, also slowed, increasing by 3.7% in the third quarter compared to 4.5% in the prior quarter. In 2025, approximately 45% of credit card spending was on essential goods and services like fuel, communication, computers, and healthcare, with industrial products and services each accounting for about a fifth of expenditures. Food and beverages made up around 15% of spending, a distribution consistent with the past two years.