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JERUSALEM, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israel's trade deficit increased by 4.8 percent in the first half of 2018, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

The deficit increased mainly due to a rise of 10.5 percent in imports of goods and services in the first half, though it was down from 14.3 percent in the second half of 2017.

Exports of goods and services in Israel, excluding start-up companies and diamonds, rose by 5.7 percent in the first half, down from 9.2 percent in the second half of 2017.

In the first half, Israeli industrial exports (excluding diamonds) rose by 5.6 percent, the exports of tourism services, by 8.5 percent, and exports of other services, by 7.6 percent.

The bureau upwardly revised its figures for annualized growth of Israel's GDP (gross domestic output) in the first half to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent, which is still slightly lower than the 4.3 percent in the second half of 2017.