As of September 2025, Israel’s population stood at 10,148,000. This is a more than 12-fold increase compared to when Israel was founded in 1948.

Diversity & Growth
Religious Observance
Christians
Gender
Holocaust Survivors
Immigration & Naturalization
A Young Population
Distribution
Birth & Marriage
Income

Diversity & Growth

Israel’s population growth was projected to fall to 1.1% in 2025 for the first time since the state’s founding, marking a sharp demographic shift. Researchers attribute the slowdown to three factors: rising mortality as the population ages, negative net migration, and declining fertility. The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel reported that Israel has entered a new demographic era: the long period of exceptionally high natural population growth has ended, and migration now plays a much larger role as fertility declines and the population ages.

Israeli Population Growth
(2020-2025)

The total Jewish population and other residents in September 2025 was 7,758,000 (78.5%), and 2,130,000 (21.5%) were Arabs. Those identified as “others” are non-Arab Christians, Baha’i, Samaritans, Karaite Jews, Seventh-day Adventists, Messianic Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who identify themselves as Jewish but do not satisfy the Orthodox Jewish definition of “Jewish,” which the government uses for civil procedures. 260,000 were foreigners.

The average population density is 461 people per square kilometer.

Since the approval of the National Outline Plan 35, annual growth rates have been 1.4% in the north and 2.4% in the south.

The Tel Aviv metropolitan area is experiencing an annual growth rate of 1.8%.

In 2023, the population by religion was roughly 74% Jewish (7,400,000), 21% Muslim (2,100,000), 5% (500,000) Christian Arab and foreign citizens. Just under 2% of the population (180,300) are non-Arab Christians and 1.6% (152,000) are Druze.

When the state was established, there were only 806,000 residents, and the total population reached its first and second million in 1949 and 1958, respectively.

In addition to these numbers, approximately 248,000 people are foreigners.

Of the 16.8 million Jewish people worldwide, 45.5% reside in Israel.

The average gross earnings per household is NIS 22,013 (approximately $5,864).

Roughly 50,000 deaths were reported on the eve of Rosh Hashanah 2025 compared to the year prior.

Israel is the 100^th most populous country in the world, not including the over 250,000 illegal foreign workers and African migrants residing in Israel.

More than 91% of Israelis are satisfied with their lives – 91.9% of Jews and 87.8% of Arabs. Almost 70% of Jews are satisfied with their economic situation, compared to 57.2% of Arabs.

Religious Observance

A May 2025 survey shows that 6% of Israeli Jews identify as Reform, doubling from 3% in 2022, while 2% identify as Conservative, up from 1%. Orthodox-affiliated groups remain dominant, with 28% identifying as religious-Zionist and 10% as Haredi (ultra-Orthodox). The largest segment, 50%, remains unaffiliated. Despite 40% of respondents saying Reform Judaism aligns with their values, 69% have no intention of joining. Attendance remains low, with only 8% participating in a Reform service in the past two years, though nearly 20% have attended life-cycle events officiated by Reform rabbis.

As of Rosh Hashanah 2025, 42.7% of Jews self-identify as secular, 33.5% as traditional, 12.0% as religious, and 11.4% as ultra-Orthodox.

According to a poll by the NGO Hiddush published in September 2019, 58% of Jewish citizens do not affiliate with any religious stream, 18% are “Zionist Orthodox,” 12% are “ultra-Orthodox” (including 2% “Zionist ultra-Orthodox”), 7% “Reform,” and 6% “Conservative.”

Ultra-Orthodox Jews as a Percentage of the Population (thousands)
	2009		2014		2020
	Number	% of Total	Number	% of Total	Number	% of Total
Ultra-Orthodox	750	10%	911	11%	1,175	13%
Other Jews	5,267	70%	5,560	68%	5,695	61%
Arab Israelis	1,536	20%	1,713	21%	1,956	21%

Total	7,553		8,184		8,826
Note: Total does not include non-Arabs. Percentages for 2020 are of the total Israeli population, including non-Arabs.
Source: Israel Democracy Institute

Christians

Just under 2% of the population (180,300) are Christians. They comprise 7% of the Israeli Arab community. Most Christians (77%) are Arabs. The majority of non-Arab Christians living in Israel are citizens who immigrated to Israel since 1990, together with Jewish family members under the Law of Return.

Most Arab Christians reside in the Northern District (70.2%) and the Haifa District (13.6%). The largest Arab Christian cities are Nazareth (21,400), Haifa (16,500), Jerusalem (12,900), and the Galilee city of Shfaram (10,300). Among non-Arab Christians, 39% reside in the Tel Aviv and Central Districts, compared with 36.3% in the Northern and Haifa Districts.

In 2024, the total fertility rate for Christian women was 1.61 children per woman.

In the 2021/22 school year, 26,752 Christian students – 1.4% of the total students – attended primary and secondary schools. Nearly 84% of Christian 12th-grade students were eligible for a matriculation certificate. Just under 53% of the Arab Christians continued their studies toward a first degree within eight years of graduating high school, compared to only 31.2% of the total number of high-school graduates in the Arab school system and 48.2% in the Hebrew education.

The proportion of Hebrew students was higher than that of women among the total number of students in the advanced degrees: 65.2% and 53.1%, respectively, of those studying for a third degree, and 73.8% and 64.2%, respectively, of those studying for a second degree.

Compared with Muslim students, the percentage of Christian-Arab students studying for a first degree (bachelor’s degree) was lower in the following fields of study: education and teacher training, business and management sciences, and paramedical studies. In contrast, the percentage of those who studied social sciences (excl. business and management sciences), law, mathematics, statistics, and computer sciences was higher.

Among students studying for a first degree, Christian students were most represented in the following subjects: musicology (15.7%), management information systems (10.5%), and food engineering and technology (9.9%).

The average age at the first marriage of Christian grooms was 30.6, and that of Christian brides was 26.8. These ages are higher than the average marriage ages across other religions for both grooms and brides.

In 2021, the labor force participation rate among Christians aged 15 and over was 66.3% (69.2% among men and 64.1% among women). This figure was 56.4% among Christian Arabs (63.8% of men and 49.2% of women).

In 2021, the average monthly salary was about $11,773.

Approximately 16,300 Christians – a rate of 89.7 per 1,000 persons – were registered at the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs in 2021.

In 2021, about 4,400 Christians – a rate of about 24.4 per 1,000 persons – were placed in social service frameworks.

In the year of judgment 2020, the rate of persons judged in criminal trials among the Christian population in Israel was about 208 per 100,000 persons; out of those judged, the rate among non-Arab Christians was substantially higher than the rate among Arab Christians (about 289 and 181 per 100,000 persons, respectively).

The rate of convicted Christians was about 185 per 100,000 persons. The rate of non-Arab Christian persons convicted was substantially higher than the rate of Arab Christians (about 252 and about 164 per 100,000 persons, respectively).

The most common offenses among persons convicted from the Christian population in Israel are as follows: offenses against public order (22.9%), bodily harm (21.8%), property offenses (16.1%), and morality offenses (15.0%).

In 2021, 84% of Israeli Christians reported being satisfied with their lives.

Gender

As of 2022, 4,808,925 individuals (50.3%) were women, while 4,748,581 (49.7%) were men.

Holocaust Survivors

A total number of 147,199 Holocaust survivors were living in Israel as of 2023, 60% - about 89,000 people - are women. The youngest survivor is 76 years old; 21% (about 31,000) are over 90 years old, and more than 100 are over 100 years old.

One in three survivors lives under the poverty line, despite governmental assistance.

Immigration & Naturalization

In 2025, 21,900 immigrants from 105 countries moved to Israel, marking a roughly one-third decline from the previous year, driven primarily by a 57% drop in immigration from Russia. At the same time, aliyah from Western countries rose sharply: immigration from France increased 45% to about 3,300, from the United States rose 5% to 3,500 (up 30% from 2023), and from the United Kingdom grew 19% to 840, continuing a multi-year upward trend. Overall, non-Russian immigration totaled about 13,600, a 23.6% increase from 2024 and an 81% rise compared to 2023. Young adults aged 18–35 accounted for roughly one-third of all new immigrants. Beyond arrivals, interest in aliyah remained high, with around 30,000 Jews opening immigration files, more than 126,000 inquiries to the Jewish Agency’s global center, and over 20,000 participants in aliyah fairs worldwide, underscoring sustained demand despite the wartime context.

In the year since Rosh Hashanah 2024, Israel welcomed approximately 25,000 new immigrants, 5,000 as part of family reunions, and 21,000 returning Israelis, while 78,000 Israelis left the country, creating an overall deficit of 28,000 people. This compares with the previous year, when 46,000 new immigrants arrived, 26,800 Israelis returned, and 55,300 Israelis left the country, resulting in a deficit of 9,300 people.

Of all the immigrants in 2023, 83.6% came from the former USSR—mainly from Russia (73.0% of all immigrants), Ukraine (4.6%), and Belarus (4.1%); 5.3% came from the United States, and 2.2% from France.

In 2024, 32,161 immigrants moved to Israel, a figure driven overwhelmingly by the continuing post-Ukraine-war influx from Eastern Europe. Immigrants from the former Soviet Union accounted for roughly 22,500 arrivals, making up the clear majority of aliyah that year. Immigration from Western countries was substantially lower than in 2025 but already notable, with about 2,145 immigrants from France, 676 from the United Kingdom, and approximately 3,590 from the United States and Canada combined. Demographically, aliyah in 2024 skewed younger than in previous decades, with roughly 16,500 immigrants aged 18–39, representing just over half of all new arrivals. In parallel to actual immigration, interest in aliyah remained high throughout the year, with tens of thousands of Jews worldwide engaging with the Jewish Agency and Israel’s absorption framework through aliyah files, government outreach, and preparatory processes, setting the groundwork for continued immigration flows into 2025.

Following October 7, 2023, there was a temporary decline in the number of immigrants. This decline slightly stabilized, and the number of immigrants rose again in the first half of 2024 (provisional data).

Since Israel’s founding, 3.46 million people have immigrated to the country, 47% of them arriving since 1990.

“Most of the immigrants coming to Israel from Russia and Ukraine in recent years do not qualify as Jewish under religious law, even if they are eligible for citizenship,” Judy Maltz noted, “To qualify for citizenship under the Law of Return, an individual must have at least one Jewish grandparent, a Jewish spouse or have undergone a conversion in a recognized Jewish community (it does not have to be an Orthodox conversion). To qualify as a Jew under religious law, an individual must have been born to a Jewish mother or have undergone an Orthodox conversion by rabbis recognized by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.”

Rising anti-Semitism in France likely accounts for the increase in immigrants from that country. Maltz noted that many French Jews who moved to Israel returned to France because of difficulties integrating into Israeli society, stemming from their inability to master Hebrew and to find jobs that matched their skills.

In 2020, 78% of the Jewish population were “Sabras” - born in Israel - compared with just a 35% native-born population at Israel’s independence in 1948. More than half of the Jewish population is Israeli-born, with at least one parent also Israeli-born. Those of European and American ancestry constitute approximately 2.2 million (36%) of the Jewish population in Israel, while Africans constitute another 14.5%, and Asians 11.2%.

A study performed by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that one in four Jewish individuals currently lives in a country other than the one in which they were born. In contrast, one in twenty Christians and one in twenty-five Muslims live in a country other than that of their birth. This makes Jewish individuals the world’s top migrants.

As of Independence Day 2024, the number of Israelis residing abroad was 56,000 (negative).

A Young Population

Israel’s population is considered relatively young compared with that of other Western countries.

As of 2024, 28% of the population was 0-14, while only 12% were older than 65. The OECD average is 18.5% (0-14) and 15% (65+). Israel’s average age, however, is getting older. In 2011, the average age was 29.5 years, compared with 27.6 in 2000. The average age worldwide is 28.4 years for men and 30.6 years for women.

As of 2023, 3,266,714 individuals (27.8%) were aged 0-18, 5,551,150 (47.3%) were aged 18-65, and 1,182,136 (10.1%) were over the age of 65. Additionally, 3,328 individuals were over 100 years old.

Israeli Population by Age (%)
2022

Life expectancy in Israel is among the highest in the world. According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in the early 1970s, life expectancy for men was 70.1 years. A decade later, this figure rose to 72.1, and by 2000, it had reached 76.7 years. In 2025, the figure stands at 81.4 years.

Women have also seen an increase in life expectancy. In the early 1970s, women’s life expectancy was 73.4 years, rising to 75.7 in 1980. By 2000, the life expectancy for Israeli women had jumped to 81.9 years, and in 2025 it stands at 85.5 years.

In 2017, life expectancy for Arab women was 79.5 years, and for men, 77.4 years.

The World Health Organization issued a report in May 2016 concluding that, on average, people lived five years longer than in 2000. Israel was ranked 8th globally in life expectancy, higher than the United States, Canada, France, Russia, and other highly developed nations. Life expectancy in 2020 was 83.5 years for all Israelis, 84.9 for women, and 82 for men.

As of October 2025, Israel’s life expectancy has risen to 83.8 years, placing it fourth among OECD countries behind Switzerland, Japan, and Spain, according to new OECD data released by Israel’s Health Ministry. The report highlights a sharp increase from 2022 to 2023 in both men and women and attributes Israel’s success to effective public health policies, preventive care, and vaccination rates exceeding 90%. Despite investing only 7.6% of its GDP in health, Israel boasts one of the lowest preventable mortality rates in the OECD at 134 deaths per 100,000 and a low infant mortality rate of 2.7 per 100,000 births. Deaths from heart disease have also declined significantly. However, challenges remain, notably Israel’s relatively high smoking rate of 16%, linked to about 8,000 deaths annually.

Distribution

Israel’s population is unevenly distributed, with the most densely populated areas concentrated in the central and coastal regions.

The Tel Aviv District is the most densely populated, with 1,507,300 residents and a staggering 22,693 people per square mile.

Close behind, the Jerusalem District has 1,239,300 residents and a density of 4,912 people per square mile.

The Central District, home to 2,347,700 residents, follows with a density of 4,698 people per square mile.

The Haifa District, housing 1,124,400 residents, has a density of 3,368 people per square mile.

In contrast, the Northern District, with 1,542,100 residents, has a relatively lower density of 894 people per square mile.

The Southern District, with 1,422,700 residents, is the least densely populated, with just 259 people per square mile.

The Judea and Samaria District, with 478,600 residents, does not provide a specific density figure but indicates a more dispersed population than the central regions.

Birth & Marriage

As of 2024, the overall fertility rate in Israel is 2.86 children per woman.

The fertility rate for Jewish women has declined from 4.02 children per woman in 1951 to 3.06 in 2024.

Among Muslim women, there has been a significant decrease in fertility from 9.31 children per woman in 1960 to 2.75 in 2024.

Since 2018, fertility rates in Israel have declined, with the exception of a small increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. The fertility of Israeli Jewish women in 2018 exceeded that of Arab women for the first time. The rate among Jewish women living in Israel and in settlements in the West Bank was 3.05 compared to 3.04 for Israeli Arab women.

The overall fertility rate in Israel in 2018 was 3.17 children per woman. By 2022, it had dropped to 3.03. The declines in the Muslim (3.20 to 2.91), Druze (2.16 to 1.85), and Christian (2.06 to 1.68) communities were even more pronounced. By comparison, the average fertility rate in 2022 across all OECD member countries was 1.59, down from 1.65 in 2017.

Some 179,000 babies were born in the year since Rosh Hashanah 2024.

The average age at marriage for Israeli women in 2016 was 26.1 years, and the average age at first childbirth was 28.3 years. Teen births are uncommon in Israel, with births to women aged 19 and under accounting for 0.5% of national births during 2016.

Income

The average monthly gross salary of employees in Israel in September 2023 was NIS 12,009 (approximately $3,346), 5.3% more than in May 2022. Almost the entire increase was eroded by inflation, which rose by 4.6% over the 12-month period.

In 2021, the average net household income was NIS 16,649, with monthly expenditures averaging nearly NIS 15,122. The average gross income of self-employed women was 54% of men's, and female employees earned, on average, 66% of men's salaries.

In the tech sector, the average salary in April 2023 was NIS 29,219 (approximately $8,140), up 5.4% from April 2022.

Between May 2022 and May 2023, the number of salaried jobs in the Israeli economy grew by 1.1%.

Sources: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.
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Graph - Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.

Vital Statistics: Latest Population Statistics for Israel