Faith on the move

The wandering Jews

New study finds that Jews are world’s most migratory religious group

Newly arrived Ethiopian immigrants at Ben Gurion International Airport (photo credit: Kobi Gideon/Flash90)
Newly arrived Ethiopian immigrants at Ben Gurion International Airport (photo credit: Kobi Gideon/Flash90)

NEW YORK (JTA) — A new study found that Jews are the most internationally migratory of all the world’s major religious groups.

“Faith on the Move,” a study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, found that a quarter of Jews are international migrants, defined as individuals who reside permanently in a country other than the one in which they were born.

By contrast, only 5 percent of Christians — the next most migratory religious group — are international migrants.

Pew found that more than 3.6 million Jews are international migrants. Some 2.76 million Jews have settled in Israel, with another 370,000 residing in the United States, 140,000 in Canada and 70,000 in Australia.

According to Pew, 56 percent of Jewish migrants come from Europe and another 24 percent from North Africa and the Middle East.

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