A woman, wearing a shirt reading ‘proud to be vegan’, carries a vegan hamburger during the ‘Vegan Fest’ fair in Israel. Image by AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ, Getty

In a recent Chef’s Table analysis of world-wide vegan habits, Israel was ranked 6th for the second year in a row, with a Vegan Popularity Score of 78. This is no surprise, considering that at least 5.2% of Israelis follow a vegan diet, and even fast food pizza brand Domino’s decided Israel was the place to launch its vegan pizza line.

But in mapping out the 10 countries in which veganism was most popular, and comparing it with the Jewish population, a question must be asked: Are countries with a higher Jewish population more likely to be vegan? What percentage of Jews are vegan?

Map by Shira Feder. Study by Chef’s Pencil. Jewish population data from World Jewish Bank._

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

While knowing what percentage of Jews are vegan may prove impossible, organizations like Jewish Veg and the fact that vegan restaurants merit their own category in the Forward Food Awards speaks to the growing popularity of a plant-based diet for many Jews. 44% of the world’s Jews live in Israel, ranked 6th, and trailing right behind that is a slightly less vegan America, where 39.5% of the world’s Jews live, making two of the world’s most Jewish countries also two of the world’s most vegan countries.

“If you look at the countries where veganism is very popular, they all have a few things in common,” Corina Onet, who created the Chef’s Table analysis, told the Forward. “They’re usually cities with a young, hip and educated population. Many are university cities or cities with a large population of artists and people working in creative industries.” This concurs with the most recent Jewish demographic data of Jewish Virtual Library, which states that “the vast majority of Jews (97%) live in urban metro areas surrounding cities.”

So are countries with lots of Jews more likely to be vegan? According to the data – that sounds about right.

Shira Feder is a writer. She’s at [email protected] and @shirafeder

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount