Ahead of Israel’s 77th Independence Day, the country passes the 10 million mark

On the eve of Israel's 77th Independence Day, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) published data showing that the population of Israel now numbers approximately 10.1 million people. 

The figure represents a significant increase from the approximately 806,000 people living there in May 1948. In fact, the Israeli population has increased about 12 times since the establishment of the State.

During that time, almost 3.5 million immigrants have arrived in Israel, of whom about 1.66 million arrived in the period from 1990 to the present. 

Almost half of the world’s estimated 15.8 million Jews now live in Israel, with the CBS stating that the Jewish population of Israel numbers around 7.732 million Jews. 

With Israel observing Holocaust Memorial Day last week, it is worth examining several significant data points. 

In 1939, on the eve of World War II and the Holocaust, the worldwide Jewish population was estimated to have been around 16.6 million, of which only around 449,000 lived in the land of Israel. 

At the time of Israel’s Declaration of Independence in May 1948, the world’s population of Jews was estimated to be around 11.5 million, with around 650,000 of them living in Israel. 

Thus, in more ways than one, Israel has become the “homeland for the Jewish people.” 

The breakdown of the population, according to the CBS is as follows: 

• 7.732 million Jews and Others (77.6%). According to CBS, this number includes non-Arab-Christians, non-Jews married to a Jewish spouse, or people with a Jewish grandparent.  

• 2.114 million Arabs (20.9%) 

• 248,000 Foreigners (2.5%) 

The CBS said that since Independence Day last year, “Israel's population has grown by 135,000 (an increase of 1.4%); of this, the population of foreigners grew by about 32,000. During this period, about 174,000 infants were born, about 28,000 immigrants arrived, about 50,000 persons died and the balance of Israelis staying abroad was 56,000.” 

The CBS said that Israel’s population growth for 2024 was slightly less than the previous year, which they said was largely attributed to a decline in the immigration rate, 24% less compared to the previous year. 

The figures also indicate that the Israeli population is relatively young. The data shows 18.5% of Israelis are between the ages of 0 and 9 and 16.5% are between the ages of 10 and 19. Only about 13% of the population are over the age of 65. 

The Central Bureau of Statistics conducted its first census in November 1948, while the War for Independence was still being waged. It has since kept a record of Israel’s sometimes slow but steady growth over the decades. 

Prof. Della Pergola, one of the world's leading experts on Jewish demography, said the figure of 10 million finally takes Israel out of the category a “small country.” 

With a population of this size, Israel has passed European countries such as Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, and Belarus, and is approaching countries like Sweden, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Belgium. 

Prof. Pergola also highlighted Israel’s continued high fertility rate over the decades. 

“Beyond the symbolic significance of 10 million, Israel is exceptional because today there is no developed country in the world that even reaches the fertility rate of two children per woman, and here it is about three,” Prof. Pergola told Ynet.

“In some countries of the world, there was a baby boom after World War II, in parallel with the economic boom, but since the 1970s there has been a collapse. Not with us.”