At Israel's 60th Independence Day, the country has 7.28 million residents, compared with 806,000 in 1948, states the Central Bureau of Statistics is a special independence day report. Israel has 5.5 million Jews, 75.5% of the total population, 1.46 million Arabs, 20.1% of the population, and 322,000 "others".
69% of the current Jewish population are sabras (native-born), compared with 35% in 1948. In the past 12 months, 156,400 babies were born in Israel and 18,000 new immigrants arrived.
The Central Bureau of Statistics predicts that Israel's population will rise to 10 million by 2030 (mid-range scenario). The average growth rate in 1948-2008 was 3.8%, 60% of which was natural increase and the rest was from immigration. The the current annual growth rate is 1.8%.
Israel's population crossed the one million mark in 1949, the two million mark in 1958, it reached three million in 1970, four million in 1982, five million in 1991, six million in 1998, and seven million in 2006. Population density has risen from 43 persons per square kilometer in 1948 to 310 today.
Tel Aviv has the country's highest density, with 7,000 persons per square kilometer, while the Negev averages 72 persons per square kilometer. The number of cities with more than 100,000 residents has risen from one in 1948 (Tel Aviv) to 14 today.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 6, 2008
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