AMSTERDAM Uber said on Thursday it will shut its food delivery business in Italy and exit Israel, where it has not built sufficient market share.

The moves were "in line with our efforts to focus on markets where we have opportunities for sustainable growth", a company spokesperson said.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said Uber will invest only in markets where it can be the largest or second largest player.

Uber trails Just Eat and Glovo in Italian food delivery, and Gett Taxi and Yango in the Israeli taxi and private hire market.

The company, which relies on self-employed contractors for its delivery service, said around 50 Uber employees and thousands of non-employee couriers and restaurants would be affected in Italy.

It said it will continue to expand its mobility service there, where it works with dispatcher IT taxi.

The company's biggest markets in Europe are Britain, France, Spain and Germany.

Uber says it is seeing strong adoption by taxi drivers in Europe, who use the Uber app to supplement their curb-side ride hailing business.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Jan Harvey)