Itongadol.- As Israel prepares to celebrate its 66th birthday, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released a report on Thursday estimating its population at 8.180 million.
According to the report, the Jewish population in the country represents about 6.135 million residents -75.0 percent of the total population – and the Arab population stands at 1.694 million people – 20.7% of the country’s inhabitants.
The additional 4.3%, approximately 345,000 people, represent non-Arab Christians and people of other religions as well as those with no religious affiliation.
The report also indicated that since last year, the population in Israel grew by some 157,000 people, marking a 2.0% increase.
In addition, the figures showed that some 178,000 babies were born this past year while some forty-two thousand deaths were recorded.
In addition, with regards to aliyah, approximately 24,000 new immigrants and returning residents arrived in Israel this past year.
According to the report, at the end of 2012, approximately three quarters of the Jewish population in Israel were considered Sabarim, a term used to describe native born Israelis; and more than half were at least second generation natives.
These figures indicate a drastic increase since the foundation of the state of Israel when in 1948 the estimated population stood at around 806 thousand people, of which only 35% were native born Israelis.
The report also stated that in 1948 Israel had only one city – Tel-Aviv-Jaffa- in which the population exceeded 100,000 residents. Today, 14 cities have populations of more than 100,000 residents, of which six have over 200,000 residents: Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, Haifa, Rishon Lezion, Ashdod and Petah Tikvah.