Israel’s population tops 10.3 million ahead of Rosh Hashanah, but emigration continues to rise

Israel’s population grew by approximately 124,000 people over the past year, reaching 10.305 million citizens ahead of the Jewish New Year, according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) annual “Israel in the Numbers” report released Wednesday.

The population grew by 1.2% over the past year, with approximately 7.83 million Jews and others, representing 78.3% of the population, and 2.17 million Arab citizens, representing 21.7%. An additional 304,000 residents are foreign nationals.

The report also found that approximately 182,000 babies were born in Israel over the past year, while about 50,000 people died, mostly of natural causes. Israel’s fertility rate of 2.88 children per woman remains exceptionally high among developed countries, compared with an OECD average of 1.41.

Israel’s fertility rate also remains above the replacement level of 2.25 children per woman, making it unique among OECD countries. While many governments worldwide have introduced incentives to encourage young families to have more children, fertility rates in those countries have continued to decline.

One theory for Israel’s comparatively high fertility rate is that Israelis retain a sense of optimism about the future and believe that future generations will enjoy a better quality of life, motivating families to have more children.

That might be changing.

According to the CBS report, around 57,000 Israelis left the country over the past year, while around 24,000 new immigrants arrived. Another 4,000 people arrived through family reunification programs, while 21,000 Israelis living abroad returned to the country.

Together, those figures produced a net loss of approximately 8,000 people due to emigration over the past year.

According to CBS statistics, Israel's emigration rate has increased substantially over the past three years.

Despite the increase in emigration, Israel remains home to almost half of the world’s Jewish population, with approximately 46% of the planet’s 15.9 million Jews living in the country.

The annual report also provided a snapshot of data concerning health, education, employment, housing, the economy, transportation, agriculture, the environment and other aspects of daily life in Israel.

For instance, Israel has slightly more than three million private households, with an average of 3.17 people per household, compared with approximately 2.5 people per household across OECD countries. Israel recorded 53,025 new marriages over the past year, while 16,499 married couples divorced.

Israeli men had a life expectancy of 81.4 years, while women could expect to live for 85.9 years, both high by international standards, particularly among OECD countries.

Israel’s unemployment rate remained at historically low levels over the past year, standing at approximately 2.9%.

Average rents for apartments and houses rose 4.3% over the past year, while home prices fell 1% compared with the previous year’s average. The price of a typical home in Israel was NIS 2.33 million ($772,000), while average monthly rent reached NIS 4,919 ($1,600).