By Aryeh Savir/TPS • 27 April, 2020
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released its traditional statistics report on the citizens of Israel in honor of Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, which is celebrated this year on Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Israel has 9,190,000 citizens, more than 10 times its population of 806,000 at the time of the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.
On Israel’s 100th birthday, in 2048, the CBS estimate that Israel’s population will grow to about 15.2 million citizens. According to CBS projections, Israel’s population will number 11.1 million at 2030 and 13. Million at 2040.
The Jewish population stands at 6,806,000, 74 percent of the entire population. Israel’s Arab citizens constitute 21 percent of the total population, numbering approximately 1,930,000. Non-Arab Christians and other religious groups constitute about 5 percent of the population.
Since last year’s Independence Day, Israel’s population grew by 171,000, constituting a 1.9 percent growth, including 180,000 newborn babies; 44,000 people have died.
Israel welcomed 32,000 new immigrants. Some 3.3 million people have made Aliyah (immigration to Israel) since 1948, making up 43 percent of the total population.
About 78 percent of Israel’s population is Israeli-born, known as “sabras.” In 1948, only 35 percent were sabras.
50,000 Israelis are older than 90.
At the time of the establishment of the State of Israel, only one city had more than 100,000 residents – Tel Aviv-Yaffo. Today, 14 cities have over 100,000 residents; eight of them have more than 200,000. They are Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Haifa, Rishon Letzion, Petah Tikvah, Ashdod, Netanya, and Beer Sheva.
Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, is the most populated city, with some 883,000 residents – almost 10 percent of the population.
In 1949, Israel had merely 500 cities and towns. Today, it has over 1,200.
In 2019, over 70 years after the Holocaust, the largest Jewish population lives in Israel. This figure represents 45 percent of world Jewry.