As the nation prepares to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and welcome in the 5779th year of the Hebrew calendar, Israel's population stands at 8,907,000, of whom 6,625,000 (74.4%) are Jews, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday.
Since Rosh Hashanah last year (marking the start of the Jewish year 5778), Israel's population has increased by some 162,000 – a population growth rate of 1.9%, which is similar to what the country has seen in the past few years. About 175,000 babies were born in Israel this past year, and 43,000 Israelis died. Some 25,000 new immigrants arrived in Israel – 62% from Russia and Ukraine, 12% from France, and 10% from the United States.
In 2017, 183,648 live births were recorded in Israel, and a fertility rate was 3.11 children per woman, the highest of any member state of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Arabs in Israel number 1,864,000, 20.9% of the population, and other religious minorities and those without a religion account for 4.7% of the population. According to the CBS, Israel's population is projected to reach 10 million by the end of 2024 and 15 million by the end of 2048. The county's population is predicted to reach 20 million by 2065.
But dry demographics don't tell the whole story. When asked to rate their personal happiness, 89% of Israelis polled said they were happy or very happy with their lives. Sadly, 6% said they often felt lonely. While the vast majority of respondent were happy in general, 37% said they were dissatisfied with their financial status, and 31% said they found it difficult to make it to the end of the month.
The average monthly household income stood at 15,700 shekels ($4,330). Female salaried employees earned, on average, 81.1% of what male salaried employees earned.
In addition to feeling pleased with their lives, Israelis also appear to be healthy, with 84% assessing their health as "good" or "very good." Only 16% said their health was "not too good" or "not good at all." Slightly more than half (51%) said they engaged in some kind of regular physical activity.
Most Israelis older than 20 or so defined themselves as nonreligious: 44.3% called themselves secular, 21.4% as traditional-not particularly religious and 12.3% as traditional-religious.
