Israel experienced an 18.1% climb in Aliyah (immigration to Israel) in 2019 with 33,247 immigrants.
According to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday, the rate of immigration in 2019 was 3.7 immigrants per 1,000 residents.
The largest number of Olim (immigrants), 15,821, came from Russia, 48.2% of all immigrants, an increase of about 50% compared with 2018.
Another 7.6% came from the US and 6.8% came from France.
In 2019, the decrease in the number of immigrants from France continued with 2,227 Olim, a decrease of 7.8% compared with 2018.
The peak of the current wave of French immigration was in 2015 when 6,628 immigrants arrived, but the rise in Anti-Semitism in the country and the Coronavirus pandemic are expected to reverse the trend and bring a massive wave of Aliyah from France.
There are 50,000 Jews in France who can emigrate to Israel in the immediate time and another half a million in the long term, the World Zionist Organization estimates.
Between the years 2000 and 2017, 10% of the French Jewish community, the largest in Europe, immigrated to Israel.
The new immigrants made their home mainly in the large cities with 13% of all immigrants in 2019 settling in Tel Aviv-Yafo, 12.2% in Netanya, 8.9% in Haifa, and 7.9% in Jerusalem.
The level of education among immigrants aged 15 and over who arrived in 2019 was relatively high – 74.8% of them had 13 or more years of schooling.
69.9% of the immigrants aged 15 and over were professionals.
In general, Israel is expecting a quarter of a million Olim in the next 3-5 years, Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog told the Knesset’s Immigration and Absorption Committee this month, a wave of immigration following the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Since Israel’s establishment as a State, about 3.3 million immigrants immigrated to Israel, about 44.3% of whom immigrated from 1990 onwards.
