Israel's population reached 9,593,000, said a report published Tuesday, on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah and as the year 5782 - according to the Jewish calendar - ends.
In its annual report, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) says that the country's population is on course to reach 10 million by the end of 2024, will be 15 million by late 2048, and 20 million by 2065.
The Israeli population grew by 187,000 (about 2%) over the past year. According to the CBS 7,069,000 residents of the state are Jews (about 74% of the population), 2,026,000 are Arabs (about 21%), and the rest are defined as other - i.e Christians who are not Arabs, other religions, and people without religious classification in the Interior Ministry.
Some 177,000 babies were born in Israel this year, 49,000 people made Aliyah - or immigrated, and 2,000 Israelis returned from living abroad, according to the CBS records.
Meanwhile, 53,000 Israelis passed away this year, some 4,400 of them due to COVID-19 complications. In addition, thousands left the country, some for a short periods of time, such as education.
An Israeli male’s life expectancy is 80.5 years, while a female in Israel lives an average of 84.6 years, one of the world’s highest.
CBS data also shows that 45.3% of Jews in the country define themselves as secular, 19.2% consider themselves marginally observant, 13.9% are partially religious, 10.7% are religious and 10% are ultra-Orthodox.
Figures show that 89.3% of Israelis are satisfied with their lives. Among Jews that percentage has reached 91.5% , compared to 70.7% among Arabs. The report also found that 70.4% of Jews are satisfied with their economic situation, compared to 51.1% of Arabs.
The CBS said that 74% of Israelis live in cities, 15% in local councils, 10.4% in regional councils, and the rest in communities without municipal status.