Israel Passes 10 Million People With Migration in the Red Again

Israel's population stood at an estimated 10.178 million residents at the start of 2026, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the government agency that compiles the country's official demographic data.

Of that total, 7.771 million are Jews and others (76.3% of the population), while 2.147 million are Arabs (21.1%) and 260,000 are foreign nationals (2.6%). The population grew by 1.1% during 2025, the same rate as in 2024. The bureau attributed the moderation in growth mainly to the high number of Israelis emigrating.

What is pushing the number up, and what is pulling it down

Two forces work against each other in the figures. Natural increase (births minus deaths) added about 132,000 people during 2025. International migration subtracted about 20,000, leaving a net gain of roughly 112,000.

Around 182,000 babies were born during the year, approximately 76% of them to Jewish and "other" mothers and around 24% to Arab mothers. Roughly 50,000 Israelis died, about 2,000 fewer than the 52,000 deaths recorded in 2024. The death rate edged down from 5.3 per 1,000 residents in 2024 to 5.2 per 1,000 in 2025.

The emigration figure behind the balance

A negative migration balance is unusual for a state built on immigration. The Times of Israel, reporting the same bureau release on 31 December 2025, said more than 69,000 Israelis left the country during 2025, against roughly 24,600 new immigrants plus 19,000 returning residents and 5,500 people arriving for family reunification. It was the second consecutive year in which more people left than arrived.

JNS, reporting the figures on 1 January 2026, put immigration down about 8,000 on the previous year, with Russia supplying the largest single cohort at 8,300 arrivals, followed by rises from the United States, France and Britain.

Why Israel still grows faster than most rich countries

Even at 1.1%, Israel's growth is high by developed-world standards, and the reason is fertility rather than migration. The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, in its December 2024 demography review, recorded a total fertility rate that fell from 3.10 in the 2015–18 period to 2.84 in 2023 before rebounding among Jewish women during 2024. It reported markedly different rates between groups: 3.19 children per woman among Jewish women by August 2024, 2.68 among Muslim women, 1.64 among Druze women and 1.62 among Christian women. The same review noted that national population growth averaged 1.9% a year between 2013 and 2022, well above the rate recorded for 2025.

What the statement did not say

The bureau's release contains an oddity it does not resolve: it states that the 2025 growth rate was the same as 2024's, then refers to a decrease in the growth rate driven by emigration during 2024. It did not explain the discrepancy, break the emigration figure down by age or destination, or say how many of those who left are expected to return. The figures are estimates, and the bureau did not indicate when final data would replace them.