According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, on the eve of Israel’s Independence Day, the country’s population stands at 9.19 million, including 6.806 million Jews (74%), 1.93 Arabs (21%, including Muslims, Circassians, Christians and Druze), and 454,000 “others” (5%, including mostly olim who are not registered as Jews).
72 years ago, on May 14, 1948, when the State of Israel was established, the Israeli population (not including Arabs) was roughly 806,000. Since then, 3.3 million olim arrived in the country, 44% of whom came after 1990. Some 115,000 citizen olim have arrived – those are the foreign-born children of Israeli citizens.
The CBS expects Israel’s population to reach 11.1 million in 2030; in 2040 – 13.2 million; and on Israel’s 100th birthday, in 2048 – 15.2 million.
Here’s a factoid to hang on your fridge door: 45% of all the Jews in the world live in Israel, and 78% of them were born in Israel.
Here’s a huge figure: close to 950,000 Israelis, 10.2% of the population, are children ages 4 and younger.
Also: some 50,000 Israelis are 90 and older.
Altogether, Israel has one of the youngest populations in the OECD: 28% are children 14 and younger, some 12% are 65 and older. For comparison, the average OECD country has only 18% children under age 15, and 17% adults ages 65 and older.