Israel’s population reaches more than 8 million at year’s end

6.1 million are Jewish, 1.6 are Muslims, Arab-Christian and Druse; population is on track to reach 11.4 million by 2035.

By BENJI ROSEN
Israeli kids play on Zikim beach 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israeli kids play on Zikim beach 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Israel’s population is over 8 million at the close of 2013, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced Sunday.
The CBS report, published just days before the New Year, estimates that the population of Israel is 8,132,000.
The country’s population increased by 1.8 percent – or 147,000 people – since 2012, according to the report.
Before this past Rosh Hashana, CBS’s annual report showed that the Israeli population surpassed 8 million.
Sunday’s data showed that 75.2% of the country – approximately 6.1 million Israelis – are Jewish. The Arab population of Israel, which includes Muslims, Arab-Christians, and Druse, is 20.6% – 1.6 million. The remaining 4% of Israel’s population – 348,000 – are either non-Arab Christians, individuals practicing another religion, or those with no religious affiliation.
The report also showed that 175,000 infants were born in Israel in 2013. In a similar report CBS published on Independence Day last April, about 41,000 people died and some 163,000 infants were born from 2012’s Independence Day to 2013’s.
Israel’s population is on track to reach 11.4 million by 2035, according to a report CBS released in June. Israel’s annual population growth rate, however, is predicted to decline from 1.8% to 1.4% because of declining fertility rates.
Nevertheless, Israel will remain exceptionally fertile, especially in comparison to neighboring Arab states. Citing UN estimates, CBS indicated the most fertile Arab nation, Jordan, has a projected 2035 fertility rate of 2.41 children born to the average woman. Israel’s Jewish fertility rate, in comparison, is predicted to increase from 2.99 to 3.04, while the rate for Israeli Muslims is projected to decline from 3.37 to 2.71.
CBS also estimates that Israel’s already high life expectancy is set to increase across all sectors by 2035. In 22 years, the average Jewish female born in Israel may expect to live 89.5 years, as opposed to 86.3 for Arab females, 84.8 for Jewish males, and 81.6 for Arab males.
CBS’s latest population statistics do not account for the foreign population of approximately 202,000 who live in Israel, which includes anyone who entered Israel without a residence permit.