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Israel’s population hits 9.84 million as Jewish majority continues to shrink

After a post-COVID boom, Israel’s population growth fell in 2023 to 1.9%.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israel’s total population numbered 9.842 million on the eve of 2024, according to statistics released by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The Jewish state’s population grew by 1.9% in 2023, down from 2.2% in 2022. The annual growth rate appears to have stabilized at pre-COVID levels, following the post-pandemic bump in 2022.

At its current growth rate, Israel’s population is projected to top 10 million in 2024.

Of the roughly 9,842,000 Israelis living in the country by year’s end, 7,028,000 are Jews, or 73.2% of the total population.

The marks a continued decline in Israel’s Jewish majority, down from 73.6% at the end of 2022.

Israel’s Arab population relative size compared to the general population held steady at 21.1%, as the absolute number of Arab Israelis rose to 2,080,000.

The third major demographic category, “Other,” which includes all non-Jewish, non-Arab residents of Israel, rose from 5.3% at year’s end in 2022 to 5.7% at the end of 2023, with 554,000 Israelis falling into this category.

The vast majority of Israelis categorized as “Other” are non-Jewish immigrants – and their descendents – from Eastern Europe.

Seventy-two percent of Israel’s population growth in 2023 was the result of natural growth, while the remaining 28% was the result of the positive immigration balance.

Of the 45,000 new immigrants who arrived in Israel in 2023, three-quarters came from Russia and Ukraine.

Approximately 179,000 babies were born in 2023, compared to 178,000 in 2022.

The percentage of babies born in Israel to Jewish mothers fell, from 74.8% of all live births in 2022 to 73.3% in 2023.

Live births to Arab women, which made up 23.8% of all live births in Israel in 2022, rose to 24.1% in 2023.

Women in the “Other” category accounted for just 2.6% of all live births in 2023.

Roughly 49,500 deaths were reported in Israel, while 2,500 Israelis emigrated from Israel in 2023.