14,572 olim in 2009 (archives)
Photo: Sasson Tiram
_a.jpg "צילום: ישראל ברדוגו")
Shana tova!
Photo: Israel Bardugo
Census: 7,645,000 people in Israel
2009 sees population growth of 1.8% including 14,572 Jewish immigrants, about 161,000 births; population still relatively young, life expectancy rising
Nearing the 8th million: As Yom Kippur 5771 (2010) approaches, Israel's population stands at some 7,645,000 people.
About 75.5% are Jewish, 20.3% Arabs and 4.2% Christian or other, according to data released Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The overall population growth rate is 1.8%.
In 2009, the growth rate was 1.7% for Jews, 2.4% for Arabs and 0.8% for others. The growth rate among the Muslim population was 2.8%, among Christians 1% and among the Druze 1.7%.
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The year 2009 saw 14,572 olim (new Jewish immigrants) arrive, an increase of some 6% compared to 2008. Most of the immigrants came from (in descending order) Russia, the US, Ukraine, France and Britain.
About 27,000 migrant workers entered Israel last year, mainly from Thailand, the Philippines and the former Soviet Union. Approximately 23,000 migrant workers who had arrived in previous years left in 2009.
Young population
Israel's population is young relative to other western countries. In 2009 nearly 28% of the population was aged 0-14, compared to the 17% average for Western countries. Those aged 65 or above comprised just 10% compared to 15% in other Western countries.
Among Jews, marriage is being postponed, leading to a large number of singles aged 25-29, a phenomenon less marked in the Muslim population. About 161,000 children were born in 2009, an increase of 2.6% compared to 2008. The average number of children born to Jewish mothers is 2.9 compared to 2.88 in the previous year, and 3.73 compared to 3.9 last year for Muslim mothers.
At this time there are some 2.1 million households in Israel. About 23% are comprised of childless couples, 50% couples with children up to the age of 17, and 6% single-parent households with children up to the age of 17. Tel Aviv has the highest number of childless couples while the southern region has the highest number of single-parent households. Families with the highest number of children (4.5 on average) live in the West Bank.
Life expectancy continued to rise in 2009 at a rate of about 5-6 months each year, reaching 79.9 for men and 83.5 for women. Most common causes of death remain cancer in its various forms (25.8% and rising,) and heart disease (17.3% and falling.)
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