Israel’s Jewish and Arab Birthrate About Even

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By JTA November 18, 2015

The birthrate of Jewish and Arab women in Israel is about even, according to new Israeli figures.

Jewish women in Israel had a birthrate of 3.11 children and Arab women had a birthrate of 3.17 children at the end of 2014, according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics. The figures were released Tuesday, ahead of World Children’s Day.

Slightly more than a decade ago, there was nearly a two-child gap in the birthrate, with Arab women at 4.3 compared to Jewish women at 2.6.

At a total of 2.74 million, children make up 33 percent of Israel’s population, according to the CBS. Some 1.945 million, or 71 percent, are Jewish and 713,000, or 26 percent, are Arab.

The statistics also found that about 92 percent of all Israeli children live with two parents, and that most children in one-parent homes, or 93 percent, live with their mother.

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