Israel in 2002: Older, less Jewish, more crowded

Israel's population is aging more slowly than most developed countries, the Statistical Abstract of Israel 2003, No. 54, published today, reveals.

28% of Israel's population is under 14. 25.5% of Israel's Jewish population is children, compared with 43.2% of its non-Jewish population.

Israel's Jewish population is also older. 12% of Israel's Jewish population is over 65, compared with only 3% of its non-Jewish population.

The Statistical Abstract 2003 also shows Israel has 965 men per 1,000 women. There are more men than women under the age of 32, but more women than men over the age of 33. The ratio of women to men increases with age.

The number of unmarried women - never married, divorcees, and widows - is greater than the number of unmarried men: 1,000 women per 840 men. Tel Aviv has the greatest proportion of unmarried men and women. Haifa has the greatest proportion of unmarried Arab men, mostly aged 30-34.

The proportion of the population born in Israel continued to rise in 2002, reaching 3.4 million, or 63% of the country's Jewish population. Half of the Israeli-born population is third-generation. The proportion of third-generation Israelis has doubled in the past 20 years.

Israel is also becoming increasing crowded, and is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, especially in comparison with its neighbors in the Mediterranean basin. Israel's population density in 2002 was 299 people per sq.m., seven times its density at independence in 1948.

As in most Western countries, Israel's population is largely urban. Over 91% of the population resides in towns with more than 2,000 residents. The proportion of people living in cities with more than 200,000 residents is gradually declining. However, among Israel's cities, only Haifa's population declined in 2002.

Israeli-born residents tend to live in the center of the country, while new immigrants, especially from CIS countries, tend to live in outlying areas. Internal migration fell by 8% in 2002, mainly due to the recession.

Following are some of the main figures from the Statistical Abstract 2003:

• Israel has 1.9 million households, of which 1.5 million have children and 356,000 are defined as non-family households, i.e. "singles". A fifth of Israel's Jewish households are single households, compared with only 5% of Arab households.
• 85% of households are Jewish and 13% are Arab. The average size of a Jewish family is 3.1, and the average size of an Arab family is 5.1.
• 791,000 families have at least one child up to 17, and 349,000 families have no children.
• Israel has 98,000 single-parent families with at least one child. 91% of single-parent families are headed by women. Half the single parents are divorced men or women. 14% of single-parent families are headed by a never-married man or woman.
• 169,000 children live in single-parent families.
• The number of single-parent families has increased by 17%, or 17,000 families, since 1998.
• 21% of households in the non-Jewish sector have no breadwinner, compared with only 9.7% of households in the Jewish sector.
• 30% of households in the non-Jewish sector have two breadwinners, compared with 36% in the Jewish sector.

  Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on September 23, 2003