Israel’s population grew by 1.8% to seven million in 2005, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday. Israel has 5.31 million Jewish and 1.38 million Arab citizens plus 300,000 people who have not been classified under any particular group by the Ministry of Interior.
The proportion of Jewish citizens in the total population has fallen while the proportion of Arabs rose. The Arab population accounted for 20% of the total population in 2005, 2% more than the proportion in 1948.
The Central Bureau of Statistics said that the rapid growth of the Arab population has been largely balanced out by the waves of immigrants arriving in Israel, most of whom are Jewish. 21,000 immigrants arrived in Israel in 2005, of whom 2,200 entered the country as tourists, and decided to stay on permanently. 9,400 people immigrated from Russia, 3,600 from Ethiopia, 2,500 from France, 2,000 from the US, and 3,500 from other countries.
According to Central Bureau of Statistics figures, 25,400 people leave Israel every year and remain overseas for two years or more. The rate emigration is currently 3.8 per 1,000 people.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 28, 2006
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