Israel’s Population Nears 9 Million

Israel’s population grew by nearly 200,000 in the past 12 months and is 8,904,373 three days before the Rosh HaShanah New Year, which begins Wednesday night.

The figures include 24,801 new immigrants whom Israel welcomed the past 12 months.

More than 176,000 new babies were born in the current Hebrew year, according to the Ministry of Population and immigration, and baby boys outnumbered girls by more than 5,000.

The most popular Hebrew names were traditional, with Yosef, Daniel and Ori leading the pack for boys. The most frequent names for girls were Tamar, Noa and Shira.

The divorce rate was approximately 25 percent, far below the rate of Western countries.