JERUSALEM, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Israel's population growth reached a historic low in 2025, mainly due to declining natural population increase and a persistently negative migration balance, according to an annual report issued on Wednesday.
Israel's population, which stands at around 10.2 million, grew by only 0.9 percent, the lowest rate since the country was founded in 1948, said the State of the Nation Report 2025, published by the research institute Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel.
Regarding natural population growth, the report explained that while the number of births has stayed fairly stable in recent years, fertility rates have fallen across almost all population groups.
At the same time, the number of deaths is rising as large age groups enter their seventies and eighties. Life expectancy remains high, but an aging population means more deaths each year.
Migration patterns have shifted sharply, with more people leaving Israel than entering in 2024 and 2025. In 2025, the gap is projected to reach 37,000.
Most people leaving Israel were not born there and are returning to countries they previously lived in. Still, emigration among Israeli-born citizens has also been increasing.
Many are choosing new destinations such as Germany, Cyprus, and parts of East Asia, reflecting changes in Israelis' motivations for leaving the country. According to the report, lifestyle considerations are increasingly outweighing purely economic factors. ■
