The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has released population information as it does annually, as Israel prepares to celebrate Independence Day, this year being the 70th. Israel’s population is 8.842 million people.
According to the CBS report, the Jewish population in Israel stands at 6.589 million, Arabs at 1.849 million (20.9% of the total population), Christians and other ethnicities 404,000 or 4.6% of the total population [including non-Muslim Arabs].
177,000 infants were born since last Independence Day, while 41,000 citizens died, and the nation absorbed 28,000 olim. The overall increase in the population was 1.9%. If the current rate of increase in the population continues, the national population will hit 15.2 million when the nation marks its centennial in 2048.
Back in 1948, when the world Jewish population stood at 11.5 million, the population of the State of Israel was 806,000. That means 6% of world Jewry was in Israel. Today’s world Jewish population is reportedly 14.51 million, with 45% living in the State of Israel.
Back in 2016, the fertility rate among Jewish women was 3.06 children, with Arabs women averaging 3.11 children. The OECD average is 1.7 children.
Life expectancy for women in 1949 was 67.6 years and 64.9 for men. At the end of 2016, the CBS reports the age for women was 84.2 and 80.6 for men.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Interesting and satisfying statistics for the population of Jews in Israel in 2018. I can’t speak for the whole planet, but unfortunately the stats for Jews in the USA is not as satisfying. The Jewish population in the US continues to deeply shrink (possibly at a faster rate than the Holocaust, may we never see another one like it) mostly due to intermarriage and unaffiliation. Today, the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of “Yizkor Jews” don’t even know what an inside of a shul looks like. B’H the Orthodox population is rising. Think about place such as France, the UK, Russia, South Africa— are the Jewish populations growing at all, or simply decreasing?! Many of those stats I read in the Pew Research Report. In my own opinion, I am guessing that by 2050, the US Jewish population will only be about 3- 5 million total, while Israel’s should probably be about 12- 15 million.