Independence Day 2019 – a party for more than 9 million Israelis
It took 71 years, but the country that was founded with just over 800,000 people has reached a new record, and Israel's 100th birthday will be marked by more than 15 million people; 88.9% of Israelis say they have a happy life
In 1948, it had a population of 806,000 people. Seventy-one years later, for the first time, there are more than nine million Israelis - 9,021,000 to be exact.
In preparation for Independence Day, the Central Bureau of Statistics published a wealth of data on Israel and its residents. As of today, there are 6,697 million Jews living in the country, 1.890 million Arabs - 20.9% of the population of Israel, and 434,000 defined as "others" - 4.8% of the country's population. The illegal immigrants and foreign workers living in Israel, an estimated 166,000 people, are not included in the data.
Israel's population has grown by 177,000 since last year's Independence Day, an increase of 2%, in line with the annual growth of recent years. Some 188,000 babies were born in Israel over the past 12 months, 31,000 new immigrants arrived and 47,000 people passed away.
Since the greatest of the state, Israel has absorbed 3,000,000 immigrants, 43% of whom immigrated to Israel after 1990. Of the current Jewish population, 75% are native Israelis. The average Israeli family has 3.11 children.
On the 100th Independence Day in 2048, the CBS predicts that Israel will be home to 15.2 million people. While this is a reason to celebrate, it is also a cause for concern given how crowded the country will be – and how enormous the traffic jams.
The number of vehicles in the country stands at 3,495,412, for Israel's 4,358,402 licensed drivers.
The data also shows that Israel has a relatively high number of octogenarians, with 48,000 people aged 90 and over. The life expectancy for men in Israel is 80.7 years, while Israeli women are expected to live longer with an average lifespan of 84.6 years.
The average monthly income of an Israeli household was NIS 16,518 (approx. $4,600) per month in 2017, a real increase of 4.6% compared to the year before. The average wage per employee was NIS 10,473 (approx. $2,900).
Over the past 12 months, Israel has welcomed 4.4 million visitors (and this is still without the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest!). Ben-Gurion International Airport also recorded 8.5 million departures abroad by Israelis.
And the happiest figure of all - 88.9% of Israelis are satisfied with life in the country.
