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Jewish & Non-Jewish Population of Israel/Palestine

(1517 - Present)

Era

Year

Jews
(core population)

Non-Jews

Total Population

% Jewish

Ottoman Empire

1517

5,000

295,000

~300,000

1.7%

1533-39 5,000 151,000 157,000 3.2%

1882

24,000

276,000

300,000

8.0%

World War I

1914 94,000 595,000 689,000 13.6%

1918

60,000

600,000

660,000

9.1%

British Mandate 1922 83,794 673,388 757,182 11%

1931

174,610

861,211

1,035,821

16.9%

1936

384,078

982,614

1,366,692

28.1%

1939 449,000      

1946

543,000

1,267,037

1,810,037

30.0%

1947 630,000 1,324,000 1,970,000 32.0%
State of Israel

1948

716,700

156,000^

872,700

82.1%

 

1950

1,203,000

167,100

1,370,100

87.8%

 

1955

1,590,500

198,600

1,789,100

88.9%

 

1960

1,911,300

239,100

2,150,400

88.9%

 

1965

2,299,100

299,300

2,598,400

88.5%

 

1970

2,582,000

440,100

3,022,100

85.5%

 

1975

2,959,400

533,800

3,493,200

84.7%

 

1980

3,282,700

639,000

3,921,700

83.7%

 

1985

3,517,200

749,000

4,266,200

82.5%

 

1990

3,946,700

875,000

4,821,700

81.9%

 

1995

4,522,300

1,090,000

5,612,300

80.6%

 

2000

4,955,400

1,413,900

6,369,300

77.8%

 

2005

5,313,800

1,676,900

6,990,700

76.0%

 

2010

5,802,900

1,892,200

7,695,100

75.4%

 

2015

6,217,400

2,078,000

8,295,400

75%

  2020 6,870,000 2,421,000 9,291,000 73.9%
  2024* 7,427,000 2,653,000 9,900,000 75.0%

^The British mandate for Palestine, which began in 1922, ended prior to Israel’s declaration of independence on May 14, 1948. The Arab states invaded, and following the war, Palestine ceased to exist. The figures for 1948 are for the State of Israel. The figures prior to 1970 do not include the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, or the Golan Heights, which were occupied by Jordan, Egypt, and Syria, respectively. From 1970, the figures only include citizens of Israel and not Palestinians living in the disputed territories.

*As of May 9, 2024. Note Census bureau said the percentage of Jews was 73.2%.


Sources: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.
Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings on Society, Politics, and Foreign Relations, Pre-1948 to the Present, Ed. by Itamar Rabinovich and Jehuda Reinharz, Brandeis University Press, Waltham, Mass., 2008. (pp. 571-572).
Berman Jewish Data Bank.
“Israel’s population 8.972m on eve of 2019,” Globus, (December 31, 2018).
Zeev Klein, “Israel reaches another milestone as population crosses 9 million,” Israel Hayom, (May 2, 2019).
“Israel’s population tops 9 million, including 45% of world Jewry,” Times of Israel, (May 6, 2019).
Eytan Halon,” Israeli Population To Soar To 15.2 Million By 100th Anniversary,” Jerusalem Post, (May 7, 2019).
Gad Lior, “Independence Day 2019 – a party for more than 9 million Israelis,” Ynet, (May 8, 2019).
“Jewish Population in the World and in Israel,” Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics Table 2.11.
“Israel’s population tops 9 million as Jewish new year approaches,” Times of Israel, (September 26, 2019).
“Israel’s population at 9,136,000 on the eve of 2020,” Jerusalem Post, (January 1, 2020).
“Ahead of 72nd Independence Day, Israeli population stands at 9.2 million,” Times of Israel, (April 26, 2020).
Della Pergola Demography in Israel. Brazil lecture 5 in Sylvia Maier, “Demographic Trends in Israel in the Arab and Jewish Populations: Possible Policy Implications,” Master’s Thesis, MS Global Affairs-NYU Center for Global Affairs, (Spring 2010).
“Israel’s population up to 9.25 million, though growth rate, immigration down,” Times of Israel, (September 16, 2020).
Moshe Cohen, “Jewish population at lowest percentage since founding of Israel,” Jerusalem Post, (April 12, 2021).
Ofer Aderet, “On Jewish New Year’s Eve, Israel's Population Reaches 9.4 Million,” Haaretz, (September 5, 2021).
“Israel’s population approaches 9.7 million as 2022 comes to an end,” Times of Israel, (December 29, 2022).
“Israeli population rises to 9.795 million on Rosh Hashanah eve,” Times of Israel, (September 14, 2023).