Israel’s Population Passes Nine Million on Eve of Rosh Hashanah

Israel’s population reached 9,092,000 people on the eve of the Jewish new year of 5780, reported the Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. Since Rosh Hashanah last year, the population has grown by 184,000 people. Population growth in 5779 was 2.1 percent, similar to in recent years.

About 196,000 babies were born in Israel over the past Jewish year, some 50,000 people died and 35,000 new immigrants arrived.

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The population is forecast to reach 10 million at the end of 2024, 15 million at the end of 2048 and 20 million in 2065.

Jews number 6,744,000 (74.2 percent of the population) and Arabs 1,907,000 (21 percent). The remainder, 441,000 people (4.8 percent), are non-Arab Christians, belong to other religions or are considered to be “without a religion.”

The CBS data include Israeli citizens and permanent residents who live in Israel and the West Bank, but do not include Palestinians living in the West Bank.

The Jewish Agency for Israel also released figures on the world’s Jewish population before Rosh Hashanah. The total number of Jews in the world is 14.8 million, up from 14.7 million a year ago. Israel is the country with the largest number of Jews, 6.7 million, with 8.1 million others living outside of the Jewish state. Some 5.7 million live in the United States.

Here is the breakdown of the rest of the world’s Jewish population:

France: 450,000

Canada: 392,000

The United Kingdom: 292,000

Argentina: 180,000

Russia: 165,000

Germany: 118,000

Australia: 118,000

Brazil: 93,000

South Africa: 67,000

Ukraine: 48,000

Hungary: 47,000

Mexico: 40,000

The Netherlands: 30,000

Belgium: 29,000

Italy: 27,000

Switzerland: 19,000

Chile: 18,000

Uruguay: 16,000

Sweden: 15,000

Spain: 12,000

Some 26,000 Jews live in Arab and Muslim countries, including 15,000 in Turkey, 8,500 in Iran, 2,000 in Morocco and 1,000 in Tunisia.

The data are based on estimates by Prof. Sergio Della Pergola of Hebrew University. They include all those who identify as Jews, and who do not have another religious identity.

About 100 countries around the world have Jewish populations of at least 100 people. In addition, smaller numbers of Jews live in Bermuda, the Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Curacao, Virgin Islands, Bolivia, Surinam, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Armenia, Kirghizstan, Turkmenistan, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Congo, Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Syria and Egypt.