Israel's economy grew only by 2. 3 percent during the last months of 2013, a considerable slower pace than experts had expected, according to estimates released Sunday by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.

Assisted in part by its newly discovered gas fields, the Israeli economy grew 3.2 percent in the first half of 2013. However, in the second half of 2013, the growth slowed down to 2.8 percent, and in the fourth quarter it fell to an even slower pace of 2.3 percent, the new figures show.

The latest growth rates are the slowest since 2009, when the economy expanded by 1.2 percent amidst a global recession.

The downward trend means the economy isn't likely to achieve the optimistic growth target for 2014, which was set by Israel's central bank at 3.3 percent, and may even struggle to meet the latest Treasury's revised target of 3.1 percent.

The export sector has been Israel's main growth engine. However, the figures of the Central Bureau of Statistics show that the overall exports of goods and services (not including diamonds and startup companies) decreased in the second half of 2013 by about 1 percent, following a 1.4 percent decrease in the first half of the year.