With Christmas just around the corner, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics released updated data regarding Christians living in Israel, updated to 2021.
As of the end of 2021, the Christian population in Israel numbered approximately 183,000 residents, which is 1.9% of Israel's population.
75.8% of the Christian population in Israel are Arab Christians - numbering some 138,000 citizens. Arab Christians are 6.9% of the total Arab population in Israel.
24.2% of the Christian population in Israel are non-Arab Christians, which accounts for some 44,400 people, most of them immigrants who came to Israel with Jewish family members under the Law of Return (including their children born in Israel) since the nineties.
Where do Christians prefer to live?
Most Arab Christians choose to live in Israel's northern (70.2%) and Haifa (13.6%) districts. 36.3% of non-Arab Christians similarly reside in Israel's more northern parts, 39% however, prefer to live in the Tel Aviv and central districts.
The cities with the largest Arab Christian population are: Nazareth (21,000), Haifa (16,700), Jerusalem (12,900) and Shfaram (10,500). Non-Arab Christians, quite similarly, prefer to reside in large metropolis cities like Haifa (3,900), Tel Aviv-Yafo (3,800) and Jerusalem (3,400).
In 2021, the growth rate of the Christian population was 2%. For comparison, the growth rate of the Jewish population was 1.6%, and of the Muslim population - 2.2%.
Increase in the Christian population
During 2021, the Christian population increased by some 3,600 people.
582 Christian couples were married in Israel in 2020. The average age at first marriage of Christian grooms was 30.6 years, and of Christian brides - 26.8. These ages are higher than the average ages for first marriages in other religions, both among grooms and among brides.
In 2021, 2,434 babies were born to Christian women, of which about 72% were to Arab Christian women (1,947newborns) and 685 newborns were born to non-Arab Christian women.
The average number of children who are minors in Christian families is 1.86, with Christian Arabs in particular recording a higher average of 1.94. These figures are low compared to Jewish families (2.24) and Muslim families (2.62).