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About 8.1 million Jews live outside Israel, including 5.7 million in the United States, a bit shy compared to the 6.6 million Jews living in Israel.
With 453,000 Jews, France is home to the second largest Jewish population outside the United States, followed by Canada, where 391,000 Jews live.
Britain has the second largest Jewish population in Europe with 290,000 Jews while in South America, Argentina is leading with 180,000 Jews.
(Photo: AFP)
Russia is home to 172,000 Jews while the Jewish population of Germany is lagging behind with 116,000 Jews, according to figures from the Jewish Agency. The Australian Jewish population is 113,000.
The Muslim countries contain the fewest Jews, none of the Jewish populations reaching more than 4 digits.
8,500 of the 27,000 Jews in the Arab countries live in Iran, 2,000 in Morocco and 1,000 in Tunisia. In total, 98 countries around the world host 100 or more Jews.
(Photo: Uri Davidovich)
In total, the population of Israel is about 8,907 million as the country heads for the New Year, compared to 8,743,000 in the same period of 2017,
according to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The CBS report also predicts that the population of Israel will reach 10 million by the end of 2024 and 15 million by the end of 2048.
"From here to the end of the projection period, in 2065, the population of Israel is expected to reach 20 million inhabitants," says the statistics report.
(Photo: EPA)
The report also breaks down the demographic composition of Israel, with the Jewish population representing 74.4% of the total population with about 6.625 million inhabitants.
The number of Arabs living in Israel is estimated to be about 1.864 million (20.9%), while those registered as "others" account for about 418 000 (4.7%).
"Since Rosh Hashanah last year, the population of Israel has grown by about 162,000 people. The annual population growth rate in 5778 was 1.9%, a rate similar to that of previous years, "the report notes.
"During the year, about 175,000 babies were born and about 43,000 people died. About 29,000 people have been added to the population of Israel in the migration balance. Of these, about 25,000 were new immigrants, "says the report's summary.
