New Year

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah 5778, Israel's population is estimated at 8,743,000, according to figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Monday, September 18, 2017. The population of Israel has grown by 156,000 since the beginning of last year.

The data indicate that the Jewish population stands at approximately 6.523 million (74.6% of the total population), the Arab population at about 1.824 million (20.9%), and the population of others at about 396,000 (4.5%).

53,579 marriages took place in 2015 (latest statistic) whereas 14,487 marriages ended in divorce.

In the Israeli education system, 2.2 million Israelis study - 1.7 million of them are pupils in school: 517,000 of them in pre-primary education, about 1 million in primary education, and about 713,000 in post-primary education. In 2021, the number of pupils is expected to reach 1.84 million, a total increase of 150,000 students compared to 2016 (an increase of about 9%).

Furthermore, 88% of Israelis are very satisfied or satisfied with their lives. 21% (about 1.1 million people) feel fairly stressed or always stressed. 6% (about 340,000 people) feel lonely often. 34% find it difficult to cover their monthly expenses.

With regard to religious practice, 44% of the population defined themselves as secular, 22% as traditional but not very religious, 13% as traditional and religious, 11% as religious and 10% as ultra-Orthodox.