Rise in number of Jewish people

The world’s Jewish population has grown to be nearly as large as it was before the Holocaust, an Israeli think tank said in its annual report.

The Jewish People Policy Institute said there are 14.2 million Jews worldwide. When factoring in individuals with one Jewish parent and others who identify as partially Jewish, the f igure approaches 16.5 million — the Jewish population on the eve of World War II. The Nazis and their collaborators killed about 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.

The report says the rise has been due in part to natural growth, mainly in Israel, which has about 6.1 million Jews.

The United States has the second- largest Jewish population, at 5.7 million. France is third with about 475,000, followed by Canada.