(Bloomberg) -- Israel’s economy grew at a 6.5% annualized rate in the fourth quarter, as investment in fixed assets and private consumption expanded, the Central Bureau of Statistics said, raising its estimate from a prior 6.4%.

The fast-paced rise in gross domestic product is attributed in part to a sharp increase in car imports, as a result of a change in tax policy, the bureau said in the statement on Sunday.

An expansion in public consumption also contributed to the fourth-quarter GDP increase. At the same time, exports of goods and services declined.

For the year, the economy contracted by 2.6%, the bureau said, revising from an earlier estimate of a 2.5% decline.

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