Latest Population Figures for Israel

(2008)

On the eve of Israel’s 60th Independence Day, the country’s population stands at 7,282,000, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Some 5,499,000 of the population (75.5 percent) are Jews, 1,461,000 (20.1%) are Arabs and the remaining 322,000 (4.4%) are immigrants and their offspring who are not registered as Jews by the Interior Ministry.

According to the CBS statistics, since last Independence Day, the country’s population has risen by some 130,000, with most of this increase being attributed to natural growth. 156,400 new babies have been born and some 18,000 new immigrants have arrived.

Overall, 124,000 residents were added to the country’s population during the year. Eighty-eight percent of this figure were a result of natural growth (births minus deaths), and the remaining 12% from the immigration factor - the gap between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants.

Aliya this year maintained the decreasing trend it has seen in recent years, falling below the 19,000 new immigrants in 2008.

When the state was established, there were only 806,000 residents, with this number reaching its first and second million in 1949 and 1958 respectively. Since 2003, the growth rate has remained relatively stable. The majority (88 percent) of the increase was due to natural births.

The majority of Israelis (92%) live in urban communities. One-quarter of the Israeli population lives either in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa or Rishon Letzion. Jerusalem is the largest city, with 719,900 residents. Most of Israel’s population is concentrated in the center of the country around Tel Aviv, which has a population of 378,900.

Among Israel’s 14 largest cities is Rishon Letzion, founded in the 1880s, which has grown from 11,000 residents in 1948 to 219,500 today. Its neighbor to the south, Rehovot, also a veteran town, has grown from 12,500 residents in 1948 to 100,300 in 2003. Ashkelon and Ashdod were founded in 1948 and 1955 respectively as cities on the periphery of the populous center of the country. In 2003, Ashkelon’s population was 104,700 and in 2007, Ashdod’s is 200,600.

Be’er Sheva, “capital of the Negev” and the largest city in the south, had 183,200 residents in 2003. The third largest city in the country, and the largest city in the north, is Haifa, with 267,000 people.

Of the country’s Jewish and non-Arab population , 65 percent were born in Israel. In 1948, only 35 percent of Jews were born in the country.

The Jews and non-Arabs who were not born in Israel number 1,930,000; those who came from the former Soviet Union comprise the largest foreign-born group in Israel. In addition to the 950,000 that came from the former USSR, 157,000 people living in Israel were born in Morocco, 110,000 are from Romania, and 77,000 are originally North American, 70,000 from Iraq, 70,000 from Ethiopia and 64,000 from Poland. Three million people have immigrated to Israel since 1948, more than one million of them since 1990. In 1990, Israel’s population hit five million and in 1998, after the wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union, it numbered six million.

The annual statistics report from 2006 of the National Council for the Child found that more than one third of Israeli children are living under the poverty line, an increase from 2005. While 33 percent of children were considered poor in 2005, 35 percent were in 2006. The percentage of teenagers enlisting in the army has dropped to 78 percent.