Increase of 1.5% -- 137,000 people -- since last year

Ahead of its 73rd Independence Day, Israel’s population stands at 9.3 million

Latest stats find 73.9% of population are Jews, 21.1% are Arabs, and 5% are members of other groups

By ToI Staff 12 April 2021, 6:31 pm 1

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The Israeli Air Force aerobatic team flies during a military training session for the upcoming 73rd Independence day, in Jerusalem, on April 12, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Two days before the eve of Israel’s celebration of its 73rd anniversary, the population of the Jewish state stands at 9,327,000, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced Monday.

That includes nearly 6.9 million Jews, accounting for 73.9 percent of the population; 1.96 million Arabs, just over one-fifth of the population; and 467,000 people of other groups, amounting to 5% of the population.

About 78% of Israel’s Jews are native-born.

Since last year’s Independence Day, 167,000 babies were born, 50,000 people died, and 16,300 immigrated to the country, according to the CBS.

Ethiopian Immigrants arrive in Israel as part of Operation Tzur Israel, March 11, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi)

Overall, the population increased by some 137,000 people, amounting to a 1.5% increase.

In 1948, when the Jewish state was established, the population of Israel numbered 806,000 people.

Since then, 3.3 million have immigrated to Israel, about 44.7% of them arriving since 1990.

Israel’s population is also young, the CBS said — 28.1% of the population is aged 0-14, and only 12% is aged 65 and over.

Israeli forces welcoming Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in Haifa, One of a collection of 26 rare photos of the 1948 War of Independence that were set to be auctioned by the Jerusalem-based Kedem Auction House in May 2019. (Kedem Auction House)

In 1948 only six percent of a global Jewish population of 11.5 million lived in Israel. By the end of 2019, 46% of the world’s total Jewish population lived in the Jewish state.

By 2048, when Israel turns 100, the CBS predicted a population of 15.2 million.

In 2020, the five biggest cities by population were Jerusalem (936,047), Tel Aviv-Jaffa (461,352), Haifa (285,542), Rishon Lezion (254,238) and Petah Tikva (248,005).