JERUSALEM, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Israel's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 2.3 percent in the third quarter of 2018 after rising only 1.2 percent in the previous quarter, the state's Central Bureau of Statistics reported on Sunday.

The updated data also changed the estimate of Israel's GDP growth in the first half of 2018, which now stands at 3.7 percent, instead of previous estimate at 4.2 percent.

GDP per capita rose by only 0.3 percent in the third quarter after falling 0.7 percent in the second quarter, because of the growth in population, which reaches about 2 percent a year.

The report also shows that imports of Israeli goods and services fell by 5 percent in the third quarter, following a decline of 1.9 percent in the previous quarter.

Exports of goods and services rose by 0.9 percent in the third quarter but tourism exports fell 16.7 percent.

Despite efforts by Israeli Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon to encourage housing construction to lower prices, the country's investment in residential construction fell by 0.5 percent in the third quarter.