Israel’s Statistics Bureau reports Jewish mothers give birth to an average 3.11 children, whereas Arab mothers give birth to an average of 3.17 children, down from 4.3 children.

By i24news

The average birthrate for Jews and Arabs in Israel is growing steadily closer, the Israeli news site nrg reported .

A file photo of a pregnant woman – Photo : AFP

New data released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics shows that Arab mothers give birth to an average of 3.17 children and Jewish women 3.11 children.

These numbers differ greatly from statistics published in the early 2000s when Arab women were having an average of 4.3 children and Jewish women 2.6 children.

According to the report, at the end of 2014, 33 percent of Israel’s population consisted of children (persons aged 0-17 years), or 2.74 million children.  71 percent of these children are Jewish (1.945 million), 26 percent are Arab (713,000) and 3 percent were listed as “other” (82,000).

The report named the city of Bnei Brak, 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) outside of Tel Aviv as the city with the most children with 47 percent.  Jerusalem came in second with 40 percent.

A report by Reuters in September showed that Israel boasts the highest birthrate in the developed world.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Israel’s birthrate almost doubles that of the remaining industrialized countries included in their report. The high birthright paired with the influx of Jewish immigrants from Russia has led to Israel’s population doubling over the last 25 years.

Forecasts put Israel’s population growing from 8.4 million in 2015 to 15.6 million by 2059 and up to 20.6 million in a high end estimate.

View original i24news publication at:
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/92798-151118-arab-jewish-birthrates-in-israel-near-equal-report