Israel leads the world!

With sales of some 1.2 million puzzles annually, Israelis are among the world’s leading jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts Go into any household in Israel and you’ll find the exact same pictures of charming landscapes, Disney characters and famous buildings. Some are up on walls for display but most of these images are in pieces and packed in boxes. “Everyone does puzzles in Israel,” Yossi Bar-on, the country’s unofficial puzzle guru, says. “There are some 200 puzzles per 100 people in Israel. That’s among the highest in the world per capita.” There’s something about taking hundreds of pieces and making them into a whole picture that has won over populations around the globe. In Israel, adults and children alike are captivated by this pastime. Some 1.2 million puzzles are sold in Israel annually. By comparison, in the United States, where the population is 44 times that of Israel’s, some three million puzzles are sold yearly according to the Puzzle History website. In Israel, the peak sales times are just before religious holidays, particularly the autumn high holidays. “Sales of puzzles go up before the holidays because they make good presents,” says Rami Lavi, CEO of Habos Hakatan, an Israeli toy company that produces 250,000 puzzles a year. “Sales also go up in winter when kids play at home more.” In 2010, Puzzleland — the biggest seller of all the top brand names of jigsaw puzzles in Israel — sold 2,200 puzzles a day in the run-up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. (Courtesy of Israeli trade Commission, Australia see here for further)