As is traditional at the start of the Jewish New Year Rosh HaShana, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released the national population figures.
By Erin Viner
There are now 9,391,000 Israeli citizens, permanent residents and residents of the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. The numbers reflect a 1.6% growth over the past 12 months amounting to 146,000 people. The count does not include West Bank Palestinians.
172,000 babies were born and about 20,000 new immigrants were welcomed to the country over the past year.
Some 48,000 people passed away, including about 5,800 victims of the coronavirus.
The Jewish sector of 6,943,000 now accounts for 74% of the total population compared to 6.8 million last year. The Arab public of 1,982,000 represents 21%, while 446,000 people, or 5% of those living in Israel are either non-Arab Christians, members of other religions or identify as members of no religion.
According to the latest demographic projections, Israel’s population will reach 10 million by the end of 2024, 15 million by the end of 2048 and 20 million in 2065.
The Jewish Agency for Israel also released a report showing that the number of Jews worldwide stands at approximately 15.2 million compared to 15.1 million last year.
45.3% of all Jews live in Israel.
About 8.3 million Jews live outside Israel, of whom the vast majority of around 6 million reside in the United States where the Jewish population increased by about 300,000.
Other major Jewish populations include 446,000 in France, 393,000 in Canada, 292,000 in Great Britain, 175,000 in Argentina, 150,000 in Russia, 118,000 in Germany, 118,000 in Australia, 91,500 in Brazil, 52,000 in South Africa, 43,000 in Ukraine, 47,000 in Hungary, 40,000 in Mexico, 30,000 in the Netherlands, 29,000 in Belgium, 27,000 In Italy, 18,500 in Switzerland, 16,000 in Chile, 16,000 in Uruguay, 15,000 in Sweden, 13,000 in Spain, 10,000 in Austria and 10,000 in Panama.
Additional data shows that about 27,000 Jews live in Arab and Muslim states, of whom 14,500 live in Turkey, approximately 9,500 in Iran, some 2,000 in Morocco and about 1,000 in Tunisia.
Countries with Jewish populations number 500 or fewer include the United Arab Emirates, Bermuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Curacao, the Virgin Islands, Bolivia, Surinam, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Bosnia, Albania, North Macedonia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Congo, Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Syria and Egypt.