Israel’s population grew by 1.9% in 2023 and is expected to pass 10 million in 2024, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics in Israel (CBS).

As 2023 draws to a close, Israel’s population stands at 9.8 million.

Of that number, 73.2% of the population is Jewish and 21.1% Arab. The remaining 5.7% identified themselves as members of other minorities, such as the Druze, Bedouin and Circassian communities, as well as Eastern Orthodox Christians of Armenian and Assyrian descent.

According to the CBS, 179,000 new names were added to the population registry during 2023, an increase of 1.9%.

Births accounted for 72% of the population’s growth. The rest came from around 45,000 new immigrants, 7,000 of whom were from family reunification.

This was a decrease on the figures in the previous year, when 73,000 immigrants were added to the population. The CBS noted that 78.6% of the 2023 immigrants came from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

The CBS added that 73.3% of the babies were born to Jewish families, 21.4% were born to Arab families and the remaining 2.6% were born to other minorities.

Meanwhile, 49,500 Israelis died in 2023 while 2,500 had been living abroad for more than one year. 

JNS contributed to this report.