A third of new expatriates – immigrants from former Soviet Union
Central Bureau of Statistics says negative balance of immigration continues. Study says that 58% of 21,500 Israelis who left country in 2005 were born abroad, of these 78% in the former Soviet Union
According to a study released by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday 21,500 Israeli residents left the country in 2005 compared to 10,500 Israeli citizens who returned.
The immigration rate in 2005 stood at 1.6 immigrants for every 1,000 Israelis, the lowest rate since 1983. According to the statistics, 55% of the new expatriates are single, 54% are male and 46% are female.
Fifty-eight percent of those who left the country were born abroad, a staggering majority of whom – 78% - came to Israel from the former Soviet Union.
The Bureau noted the significant number of returning Israelis in 2005, 55% of which are Israeli-born compared to 45% who were born abroad.
The figures indicate a general negative balance of immigration from Israel during the 1990-2005 period. During those years some 370,000 residents left Israel compared to 141,000 who returned after a lengthy stay abroad.
Of immigrants from the former Soviet Union who came during the immigration surge of the 1990's, some 132,000 left Israel while only 21,000 returned. A third of those who chose to stay abroad are not Jewish.
Since 1948 and until 2005, a recorded 650,000 Israelis have left the country for life abroad. The current estimate places the number of living Israeli expatriates at 530,000-560,000 people, a figure which does not include any children born to expatriates after leaving the country.
