For the first time ever in the State of Israel, the government reports the fertility rate of Jewish women has surpassed that of their Arab counterparts, primarily due to Chareidi and Settler births.
According to 2018 data released Tuesday by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, the fertility rate for Jewish and Other women stood at 3.05 children (Others include non Arab Christians, and citizens with no religious classification), just a squeak higher than the 3.04 children births expected in the lifetime of an Arab woman.
Comparing only Jews to Muslims, Jews stood at 3.17 children, while Muslims are still leading with 3.20 children.
Examining communities with over 10,000 residents, that pushed the overall Jewish numbers up, where Modi’in Ilit led the pack the 7.57 children per mother, Beitar Illit at 7.09, Bnei Brak with 5.84, and Beit Shemesh at 5.52.
No figures were provided for Arab women in the Palestinian Authority, inasmuch as that population is not part of the State of Israel.
It is important to note from a demographic standpoint that in the “Jewish” category, there were also women included whose religion was cited as “other.”
CBS: For the First Time Ever, Jewish, Arab Fertility Rates Identical
On the occasion of International Child Day in 2016, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced that for the first time since the re-establishment of the Jewish State, the Israeli Jewish women’s overall fertility rate matched that of Israeli Arab women at an average of 3.13 children per woman. The Jewish demographic trend began its upswing at that point, and Arab numbers began slowing down.
Data released in November 2018 by the CBS head of the International Children Day showed that in 2017, the fertility rate for Israeli Jewish women was 3.16, and that of Arab women was 3.11 – the overall country average for Israel, but considerably lower than that of Jewish women, according to CBS data reported in an article by The Calcalist.