Nearly two million people were living below the poverty line in Israel in 2023, including 872,400 children and 158,500 senior citizens, according to an annual report released by the National Insurance Institute.
A total of 1.98 million people were living below the line in Israel, placing the country second to last in the OECD rating of poverty according to disposable income.
The figures mean that 20.7 percent of people in the country lived in poverty, with 27.9% of children and 12.8% of senior citizens below the line.
The report also highlights that rates of deprivation are at their highest in the Arab and Haredi communities. The poorest locality is the Haredi settlement Modiin Ilit, followed by Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Bnei Brak and Lod.
Among its recommendations, the National Insurance Institute says care must be taken with the Arrangements Law — a companion to the state budget that determines how funds will be disbursed — to ensure that the most vulnerable sectors of the population are not further harmed.
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