88% of Israelis satisfied with their lives
Ahead of 5778, population figure stands at 8.7 million
Israel’s population today stands at 8.743 million, according to data the Central Bureau of Statistics released on Monday in its annual report ahead of Rosh Hashana.
That includes 6.523 million Jews, or 74.6% of the population, and about 1.824 million Arabs, or 20.9% of the population. The remaining 396,000 Israelis account for 4.5% of the total. Each of these sectors experienced consistent growth since the previous report.
The population is on a consistent rise – it grew by 156,000 since last Rosh Hashana, and similar to recent years, the population growth rate for 5777 was 1.8%.
The great majority of Israelis are satisfied with their lives.
Eighty-eight percent of Israelis aged 20 and above said they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their lives. Nevertheless, 21%, or some 1.1 million people, feel stressed on a regular basis; 6%, or 340,000, admit to feeling lonely on a regular basis; and 34% say they find it difficult to cover their expenses.
Immigration has remained consistent, with 25,977 new immigrants in 5777: 57% of them from the former Soviet Union, 17% from France, and 11% from the United States
The report also revealed that 172,000 babies were born and 43,000 people died during 5777.
The country has the highest fertility rate in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, with women having an average of 3.11 babies during their lifetime.
The infant mortality rate was 3.1 per 1,000 live births.
A girl born this year has a life expectancy of 84.2 years, while for boys it is 80.7 years.
There are 2,470,200 households in Israel, with an average of 3.31 people in each.
There are 202,090 nuclear families in Israel, and the country saw 53,579 marriages and 14,487 divorces.
The Central Bureau of Statistics reported 2.2 million children enrolled in schools: 517 thousand in preschools, about 1 million in primary
schools, 517,000 in middle schools and some 713,000 high school students. Some 73.8% of high school graduates earned matriculation certificates.
There were 268,600 students enrolled in colleges and universities during the 2015-2016 academic year. Of those, 40.8% were men. Some 15.5% of all such students were Arab and from that, 31.4% were male.
Some 76,000 Israelis earned college degrees in 2016; five times the number in 1990.
Meanwhile, 924,000 people live under the poverty line, 10.7% of Israelis.
Moreover, 1.3 million people are registered with one or more social service departments, while 14% of people aged 20 and above are registered as disabled.
The workforce is generally satisfied. There were some 3 million working Israelis as of 2016.
Out of that, 59% were satisfied with their work and personal life, and 20%, or 700,000, wanted to change their jobs. Another 20% felt their health or safety is in danger due to their work. •