Israel’s Population Surpasses 9 Million, Baby Boom Year

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah 5780, Israel’s population now stands at 9.092 million according to a report by the Central Bureau Of Statistics(CBS). The population is projected to exceed 10 million by 2024 and 20 million by 2065.

The population grew by 2.1 percent from the eve of Rosh Hashanah last year.

The CBS says that 74.2% of the population is Jewish, numbering 6.74 million, 21% Arab (1.907 million) and 4.8%(441,000)  who were eligible to immigrate under the Law of Return, but were not halakhically Jewish.

It adds that 196,000 babies were born in Israel last year, 50,000 people died and 38,000 were added to the population via immigration, 35,000 of them new immigrants.

Forty-three percent of Jews living in Israel describe themselves as non-religious or secular while 22.1% claim to be traditional or slightly religious.

12.8% say that they are traditional, 11.3% call themselves religious and 10.1% say they are Chareidi.

Israelis are generally satisfied with life, with 88.9% reporting they are pleased with their situation. However, 36.1% are unhappy with their economic circumstances: 29.9% said they were unable to pay their bills last year, while almost 25% said they had given up medicine or medical treatment and even hot meals due to a lack of funds.

Life expectancy for men in Israel is 80.9 years, while Israeli woman on average live to the age of 84.9 – among the highest life expectancies in the world.

Cancer is the leading cause of death for around one quarter of Israelis (25.2%), followed by cardiac disease (14.8%).

When it comes to assets and property, 66.5% of Israelis own their own homes – and of that number, more than half are paying a mortgage.

The Jewish Agency reports that there are 14.8 million Jews in the world. 8.1 million live in the Diaspora, including an estimated 5.7 million who live in the United States.