As the Jewish people celebrates Israel’s Independence Day, the latest population figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) highlight the nation’s extraordinary demographic journey since its founding 76 years ago.

The first official census taken in November 1948, just months after Israel’s establishment, counted a mere 806,000 citizens. Fast forward nearly eight decades, and today’s population stands at 9.9 million – a staggering twelvefold increase. There are over 60,000 Israeli citizens still alive today who were born in that defining year of 1948. Remarkably, more than 3,300 of those individuals have reached centenarian status.

Breaking it down further, Israeli society comprises a Jewish majority of 7.247 million people, making up 73.2% of the total population. Arab citizens make up 21.1% with 2.089 million people, while other minorities including Druze, Bedouins, and Circassians account for the remaining 5.7% or 564,000 individuals. This marks a 1.9% increase of 189,000 people since last year’s Independence Day.

CBS estimates attribute this growth to the 196,000 babies born over the past year, coupled with the arrival of 37,000 new immigrants. Since 1948, a total of 3.4 million immigrants have made Aliyah to Israel, with 1.6 million (47.1%) arriving in just the last three decades after 1990.

Projections by the statistics bureau indicate Israel’s population will surpass 11.1 million by 2030, reach 13.2 million by 2040, and cross the 15.2 million mark in 2048 when the nation celebrates its centennial.

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