On the eve of the onset of the Jewish New Year, the Central Bureau of Statistics of Israel published data on the population of the country.
Currently, 8 743 000 people live in the country. Over the past year, the population of the Jewish state has grown by 156,000 people.
6,523 million citizens (74.6% of the population) are Jews. The Arab population is 1.824 million (20.9%). Representatives of the remaining groups number 396 thousand (4.5%).
74.2% of Israelis are urban dwellers, 14.9% reside in the local councils, 10.1% live in regional councils, and 0.8% inhabit areas that do not have a specific municipal status.
On average, the Israeli family consists of 3.31 people. In 2016, 181,405 babies were born in Israel, 53,579 couples married, and 14,487 couples officially divorced. The birth rate in Israel is the highest among OECD countries. In the past year, 25,977 people repatriated to Israel. 57% of returnees came from the countries of the former USSR, 17% from France, 11% from the USA