Israel's population growth slows amid declining fertility rates across religions

Israel’s population growth, though still robust for a developed nation, is showing signs of deceleration due to declining fertility rates among all religious groups, states a report released Monday by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. According to reports, the population reached 9.84 million, experiencing a 1.86% increase in the past year, as of the end of the previous year, . Despite a record-low mortality rate until September and elevated immigration levels, this growth rate is below the decade-long average. From 2018 to 2022, the average fertility rate for Jewish women decreased from 3.17 to 3.03 children per woman. Muslim and Christian women witnessed more substantial declines, dropping from 3.20 to 2.91 and 2.06 to 1.68, respectively. Druze women also experienced a decrease from 2.16 to 1.85. In the initial nine months of 2023, the fertility rate among Jewish women was 3.6% lower than the same period in 2022, while Arab women experienced a 3.1% decline. The report highlights the impact of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which significantly boosted immigration to Israel, constituting 39% of population growth in 2022 and the first half of 2023. A noteworthy demographic shift involves a group labeled “not classified by religion,” primarily immigrants from the former Soviet Union rejected as Jews by religious authorities. This group has played an increasingly significant role, contributing close to 20% to Israel’s annual growth by 2023. Data from the Labor Force Survey indicates that this group, with the highest employment rate and longest work hours in Israel, aligns with the productive population sought by migration advocates in Europe. The report also observes a consistent rise in fertility treatments in Israel, with 26 Health Ministry-approved IVF clinics conducting 50,680 treatment cycles in 2020. In 2019, 5% of all live births were assisted by IVF, reflecting a growing trend in fertility interventions.