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CBS: Israel's population numbers 7,465,500

Sep. 16, 2009
Jonny Hadi , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israel's population numbers 7,465,500 - some 5,634,300 Jews, 1,513,200 Arabs and 318,000 others - according to the annual pre-Rosh Hashana report released by the Central Bureau of Statistics Wednesday.

President Shimon Peres was presented with the report and thanked the CBS for its work.

"The data you presented is a product of very important work," he said upon receiving the report. "I give you my blessing and wish all of us a happy and successful year."

The report found that Israel's population has been growing at a steady annual rate of 1.8% since 2003.

It showed that the growth rate among Jews in 2008 was 1.7%, and among Arabs 2.6%. The growth rate of the 'others' dropped to 0.5%, compared with 1.8% in 2007 and 3% on average between 2003-2006.

Life expectancy continued to rise, to 79.1 years among men and 83 years among women. Compared with 2007, life expectancy among men went up by 0.4 years, and among women 0.6 years. The life expectancy was 3.7 years greater among Jewish men and women than among Arabs.

The national expenditure on education went up by 3% in 2008, compared with a 4% average rise between 2006-2007

It also emerged that Israel has a relatively young population compared to the West. In 2008, the percentage of children between 0-14 in Israel was 28.4%, compared with the 17% Western average, while the percentage of those aged 65 and up was 9.7%, compared with the West's figure of 15%.

The number of Israelis 75 and older has risen steadily over the years, particularly among Jews - 5.6% in 2008, compared with 3.8% at the start of the 90s.

Also according to the 2008 figures, there were 979 men to every 1,000 women in Israel.

It further emerged that among Jews there was a tendency to push off marriage, with 32% of men and 42% of women between the ages of 25-29 being bachelors. Among the Muslim population for the same age group, the figure was 39% for men and 15.5% for women.

The proportion of Israeli-born Jewish members of the population continued to rise, standing at 70.7% (3.9 million) at the end of 2008, compared with 35% when the state was established.

At the end of 2008, 2.2 million people - 37.9% of the Jews and 'others' - had originated from Europe and the US.

Regarding geographical trends, about half of Israel's Jewish population is concentrated in central Israel, while less than 10% of Israeli Jews live in the North.

On the other hand, some 60% of the Arab population live the North, and 11% in the South.

 

The Central District saw the most internal migration in 2008, following a decades-old trend, adding 11,700 people to the population in 2008, compared with 12,600 in 2007. The number of residents of Judea and Samaria rose by 3,900 in 2008, compared with 4,900 in 2007.

 

One of the most striking statistics in the report is the number of people who have apparently been priced out of the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv regions. The population of the former area dropped by 4,200 and of the latter by 5,700. The Tel Aviv area negative migration is the largest since the end of the 90s.

In all the five biggest cities - those with a population of 200,000 or more - negative migrations were recorded, the smallest being in Rishon Lezion (600) and the largest in Jerusalem (4,900). In Tel Aviv, the figure was 3,200, in Haifa 1,400 and in Ashdod 900.

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