Manchester, Lancashire, UK – Majority of Jews Will Be Ultra-Orthodox by Second Half of this Century

Manchester, Lancashire, UK – According to new research by a University of Manchester academic ultra-orthodox British and American Jews are set to outnumber their more secular counterparts by the second half of this century.

Historian Dr Yaakov Wise says the increase in religious British Jewry – recognisable by their traditional dress – is now outstripping the decline in the overall Jewish population which has been shrinking by one to two per cent each year since the 1950s.

European ultra-orthodox Jewry is expanding more rapidly than at any time since before World War Two.

Almost three out of every four British Jewish births, he says are ultra- orthodox who now account for 45,500 out of a total UK Jewish population of around 275,000 or 17 percent.

Dr Wise said: "If current trends continue there is going to be a profound cultural and political change among British and American Jews – and it's already well on the way.

"In America too, where the Jewish population is stable or declining, Ultra-Orthodox Jewish numbers are growing rapidly.

Professor Joshua Comenetz from The University of Florida estimated the Ultra-orthodox population in 2000 was about 360,000, 7.2 per cent of the approximately 5 million Jews in the U.S.

But in 2006, demographers now estimate the number had grown to 468,000 or 9.4 per cent.