Israel’s population almost 10 million ahead of Jewish New Year – 90% happy

Israel’s population reaches 9.593 million, with a Jewish majority of 74%.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Days ahead of Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released a round-up of numbers summarizing everything from personal happiness to life expectancy among residents of the Jewish State.

Israel’s population has reached 9.593 million people, with the vast majority of them (74 percent) living in cities with over 100,000 residents. About 25 percent of Israelis live in local or regional councils, similar to the county system in the U.S.

A tiny fraction of Israelis, 0.7%, live in unrecognized communities, presumably in outposts in Judea and Samaria and Bedouin villages in the southern Negev desert.

Demographically, 73.9% of Israel’s residents are classified as Jews, and 21.1% were categorized as Arabs. The CBS did not distinguish between Christian, Druze, and Muslim Israelis for this statistic. Just 5% of Israelis are defined as neither Jewish nor Arab.

Life expectancy for women in the Jewish State is 84.6 years, and for men 80.5 years.

The CBS also reported that 90% of Israelis said that they are happy or satisfied with their lives. On a global scale, Israel has consistently been ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world.

However, it appears that a dramatically rising cost of living, including skyrocketing apartment prices, has affected Israelis’ sense of economic security with 12% of Israelis saying they had felt “poor” in the last year. However, 69% said they felt “satisfied” with their overall financial situation.

According to the CBS statistics, the majority of Israelis are living paycheck-to-paycheck. While the average household earns 16,559 shekels per month ($4,790), average household expenses are 15,990 shekels ($4,630) which leaves Israelis with limited saving ability.

Most Israelis (64%) live in a house or apartment which they own, but the average price of an apartment rose by a staggering 13.1% since last year. The average price for an apartment in Israel is currently 1.728 million shekels (about $500,000).

In matters of health, 56% of Israelis over the age of 21 were defined as either overweight or obese, although 29.2% perform the recommended amount of daily physical exercise.

Notably, the statistics did not distinguish between Israeli citizens, permanent residents, migrant guest workers, and those residing in Israel illegally. The summary of population statistics encompassed all residents of Israel, regardless of their citizenship or legal status.