Some 313,000 Jews have left Jerusalem over the last 25 years, 105,000 more than those who moved to the capital during the same period.

The 2005 figures, released by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, show that the balance of population in the city would have favored Jews over Arabs had measures been taken to curb the exodus.

Today, 66 percent of Jerusalem's residents are Jews and 34 percent are Arabs. By 2020, the Jews are expected to comprise 60 percent of the city's population, while the Arabs are expected to reach 40 percent.

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Labor and Kadima officials have in recent years advocated changing Jerusalem's jurisdiction in order to deal with the "demographic problem."

Some 16,200 residents left Jerusalem in 2005, half of them aged 20 to 34, compared to 10,300 who moved to the city.

Jerusalem's Statistical Abstract editor Dr. Maya Hoshen said people leave Jerusalem mainly due to lack of employment and affordable housing. The number of ultra-Orthodox residents leaving the city has also grown in recent years.

In an article she intends to release soon, Hoshen lists four main periods of Jewish emigration from Jerusalem since its unification.

*1968-1972 - The number of people leaving Jerusalem each year on average was 800 more than those moving in.

*1973-1978 - The number of people leaving Jerusalem each year was on average 1,000-2,000 more than those moving in, following the construction of new neighborhoods.

*1987-1988 - The number of people leaving Jerusalem each year was on average 600 more than those moving in.

*1988-2005 - The number of people leaving increased. In 2003, the number of people leaving was 5,100 more than those moving in, the smallest differential since 1990. From 1991 to 1996, the number of people leaving was 5,600-6,200 more than those moving in each year. The ratio of people leaving peaked in 2000, as 8,200 more people left Jerusalem than moved in.