Israeli Jewish fertility rises as Western birth rates continue to fall

Jewish births in Israel are continuing to rise even as fertility rates decline across much of the developed world, with more than 66,000 Jewish babies born during the first half of 2026, according to new data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

Israeli Jewish mothers gave birth to 66,753 babies during the first six months of 2026, a 2.6% increase from the 65,091 Jewish babies born during the same period in 2025. The increase accelerated to 4% in June compared with June 2025.

Over the past 12 months, 137,343 Jewish babies were born in Israel—the highest annual number recorded in the CBS statistics table since 1996. Across all population groups, 185,344 babies were born during the same period, slightly surpassing the previous peak of 185,040 recorded in 2021.

The figures come as Israel continues to stand apart from most other developed countries, where declining fertility rates are contributing to rapidly aging populations and, in some cases, population decline. Israel remains the only advanced OECD country with a fertility rate above the replacement level of approximately 2.1 children per woman.

The rise in Jewish births also reflects a significant demographic shift within Israeli society. While Arab Israeli women historically had substantially higher fertility rates than Jewish women, the gap has steadily narrowed over the past two decades, and Jewish fertility has now surpassed Arab fertility.

In the early 2000s, Arab Israeli women had an average fertility rate of 4.3 children per woman, compared with 2.6 among Jewish Israeli women. By 2015, the rates were nearly identical, at 3.17 children per Arab woman and 3.11 among Jewish women.

By 2024, Jewish fertility had overtaken Arab fertility. Jewish women had an average of 3.07 children, compared with 2.59 among Arab women. Arab Christian and Druze women in Israel now have the lowest fertility rates among Israel’s population groups.

The latest CBS figures show that Arab births increased by only 0.5% compared with a 2.6% increase among Jewish Israelis. Furthermore, Jewish births increased by 4.2% compared with 2025, while Arab births fell by 4.1%, including a 4.4% decline among Muslim Arab women.

CBS statistics released in May showed that Israel’s Muslim Arab population is experiencing declining fertility alongside rising education and employment levels, as more Arab Israelis become increasingly integrated into Israeli society and the economy.

Despite the decline in fertility, the Arab Israeli population continues to grow faster than the Jewish population because it is younger and has a proportionally larger number of women of childbearing age. However, the trend also indicates that the Arab Israeli population is gradually aging.

Israel’s Jewish population increased from 7.27 million in July 2025 to 7.35 million in July 2026. During the same period, the Arab Israeli population increased from 2.12 million to 2.17 million.

Israel’s relatively high fertility stands in sharp contrast to many advanced economies in Europe and East Asia, where very low birth rates are contributing to rapidly aging populations. Countries including Japan, Germany and Italy are projected to experience population declines in the coming decades.

Israel’s fertility trends are also unfolding amid significant demographic challenges of its own. A growing number of educated Israelis have emigrated during the past three years due to factors including the war, economic concerns and dissatisfaction with the current Israeli government.

Nevertheless, the latest figures suggest that Israel’s Jewish population continues to experience a demographic trend that is increasingly unusual among wealthy Western nations.