Israel’s population rose as 2024 began, hitting 9.842 million according to statistics released by the Central Bureau of Statistics. This represents an increase of 1.9% in 2023 but is down by 2.2% from 2022.
It is estimated that at its current growth rate, Israel’s population will pass 10 million in 2024.
Of the roughly 9,842,000 Israelis living in the country at the end of 2023, 7,028,000 are Jews, representing 73.2% of the total population. This is down from 2022 when 73.6% of Israel’s population was Jewish.
The Christian population of Israel is growing as the CBS reported approximately 187,900 living in Israel at the end of 2023, composing 1.9% of the population. This represents a 1.3% growth from the year before. In 2021, the Christian population grew by 1.4% to 182,000, and in 2022, there was about 2% growth to 185,000, according to the CBS.
75.3% of the Christians in Israel are ethnic Arabs making up 6.9% of the total Arab population.
At the end of 2023, the Arab population’s relative size compared to the general population remained at 21.1%, as the absolute number of Arab Israelis rose to 2,080,000.
While the population of Christians in Israel grows, this is not the case in formerly Christian cities that are under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority. Bethlehem’s population of 23,000 Christians was reduced from a 60% majority in 1990 to a 20% minority by 2001, when Yasser Arafat appointed a Muslim from Hebron, Muhammed Rashad A-Jabari, as governor of Bethlehem.
Similarly, since Hamas took over in Gaza, the Christian population has declined from 5,000 Christians in 2006 to 1,100 Christians today. Palestinian Christians have generally chosen to emigrate to Argentina, Chile, Australia, Canada, and the USA.
According to the Christian organization Open Doors, an estimated 15% of the world’s Christian population lives in fear and suffers discrimination. Christians are the most persecuted people on the planet, with over 360 million suffering persecution, mostly in Islamic countries. Open Doors reports that during 2022 alone, 5,621 Christians were murdered in these countries; 2,100 churches were attacked and 4,542 Christians were detained.
