Jewish population by country

For historical figures, see Historical Jewish population comparisons. For different regions, see Judaism by country and Jewish ethnic divisions.
Jewish population by country (2013)

The world's core Jewish population in early 2013 was estimated at 13.9 million people (around 0.2% of the world population).[1][2] While dozens of countries host at least a small Jewish population, the community is concentrated in a handful: Israel and the United States account for 82% of the Jewish population, while a total of 18 countries host 98%.[2]

With just over 6 million Jews, Israel is the only Jewish majority and explicitly Jewish state. Jewish population figures for the United States are contested, ranging between 5.4 and 6.8 million.[3] (The core global total of Jews jumps above 15 million if the highest American estimates are assumed). Other countries with a significant Jewish population are, like Israel and the US, typically well-developed OECD members with Jews concentrated in major urban centers.[2]

In 1939, the core Jewish population reached its historical peak of 17 million (0.8% of the global population). Because of the Holocaust, the number was reduced to 11 million in 1945.[4] The population grew again to around 13 million by the 1970s, but has since recorded near-zero growth until around 2005 due to low fertility rates and to assimilation. Since 2005, the world's Jewish population has been growing modestly at a rate of around 0.78% (in 2013). This increase primarily reflects the rapid growth of Haredi and some Orthodox sectors, who are becoming a growing proportion of Jews.[5]

The "enlarged" or expanded Jewish population, which includes those with a Jewish father or spouse as well as children living in a household with a Jewish step-parent, stands at approximately 18.2 million. The total number of people who hold or are eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return — defined as anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent, and who does not actively profess any other religion — is estimated at around 21.7 million, of which 6.3 million are currently living in Israel.[2]

No reliable figures exist for the number of crypto-Jews.

Recent trends

Recent Jewish population dynamics are characterized by continued steady increase in the Israeli Jewish population and flat or declining numbers in countries of the diaspora. The Jewish population of Israel has increased more than tenfold since the country's inception in 1948 to 6,135,000 today[6] while the population of the diaspora has dropped from 10.5 to 7.8 million over the same period.[2] Current Israeli Jewish demographics are characterized by a relatively high fertility rate of 3 children per woman and a stable age distribution.[7] The overall growth rate of this group is 1.7% annually.[8] The diaspora countries, by contrast, have low Jewish birth rates, an increasingly elderly age composition, and a negative balance of people leaving Judaism versus those joining.[2]

Immigration trends also favor Israel ahead of diaspora countries. The Jewish state has a positive immigration balance (referred to as aliyah in the country). Israel saw its Jewish numbers significantly buoyed by a million strong wave of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s[9] and immigration growth has been steady in the low tens of thousands since then.[10] Globally, only the United States, Canada, Australia, and Germany have shown a positive recent Jewish migration balance outside of Israel. In general, the anglosphere has seen its share of the diaspora increase since the Holocaust and the foundation of Israel, while historic Jewish populations in Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East have significantly declined or disappeared.[11] France continues to be home to the world's third largest Jewish community, between 500,000 and 600,000 people,[12][13] but has shown an increasingly negative trend, including the largest emigration loss to Israel in 2014.[14]

Debate over American numbers

The exact number of Jews in the United States has been the subject of much debate given questions over counting methodology. In 2012 Sheskin and Dashefsky put forward a figure of 6.72 million based on a mixture of local surveys, informed local estimates, and US census data. They qualified this, however, with a concern over double counting and suggested the real figure may lie between 6 and 6.4 million.[15] Drawing on the work, the Steinhardt Social Research Institute released their own estimate of 6.8 million Jews in the United States in 2013.[16] All of these figures stand in contrast to Israeli demographer Sergio DellaPergola's number of 5,425,000 also in 2012.[2] He has called high estimates “implausible” and “unreliable.”[3] This latest furor follows a similar debate in 2001 when the National Jewish Population Survey released a Jewish American estimate as low as 5.2 million only to have serious methodological errors suggested in their survey.[3] In sum, a confidence interval of a million or more people is likely to persist in reporting on the number of Jewish Americans.

Countries and Territories

Below is a list of Jewish populations in the world by country or territory. Unless otherwise indicated, numbers for the core population are given by DellaPergola's chapter "World Jewish Population" of the American Jewish Year Book of 2012, as reproduced in the Jewish Virtual Library.[17] The library is a comprehensive non-governmental website covering topics about U.S.-Israel relations and the Jewish people. Numbers in the relevant sources are primarily based on national censuses. Regarding definitions, DellaPergola has described the "core Jewish population" in the diaspora as "all persons who, when asked in a socio-demographic survey, identify themselves as Jews; or who are identified as Jews by a respondent in the same household, and do not have another monotheistic religion."[2]

In this table "enlarged Jewish populations" are provided for European countries by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research. They define this category as "core Jews" plus those of Jewish parentage who may have adopted another religion or opted out of Judaism along with household members such as spouses and children who are not otherwise included.[18]

Country or Territory Core Jewish Population Proportion of country population Enlarged Jewish Population Proportion of country population
World13,859,8000.196%18,437,4000.257%
 United States5,400,000 - 6,800,0002.11%8,300,000[2]2.644%
 Israel6,180,30075.4%6,332,900[2]79.394%
 European Union1,105,7000.22%1,574,3000.313%
 France478,0000.751%600,0000.943%
 Canada380,0001.089%500,0001.433%
 United Kingdom290,0000.459%360,0000.57%
 Argentina230,000[19]0.575%300,000[20]-
 Russia190,0000.133%380,0000.266%
 Germany119,0000.144%250,0000.305%
 Brazil107,329[21]0.049%--
 Australia112,000[22]0.3%[23]--
 South Africa70,0000.137%--
 Ukraine67,000[24]0.143%400,000[24][25] 0.286%
 Mexico67,476[26]0.034%--
 Hungary48,0000.485%95,0000.96%
 Belgium30,0000.27%40,0000.36%
 Netherlands29,9000.179%50,0000.299%
 Italy28,1000.046%37,0000.061%
 Poland25,000[27]0.065%--
 Chile18,5000.106%--
  Switzerland17,4000.218%25,0000.313%
 Turkey17,3000.023%21,0000.028%
 Sweden15,0000.158%25,0000.263%
 Uruguay12,000[28]1.134%20,000-
 Spain12,0000.026%18,0000.039%
 Belarus11,5000.121%23,0000.242%
 Panama10,0000.278%--
 Romania9,4000.044%17,0000.08%
 Venezuela9,0000.03%--
 Austria9,0000.106%15,0000.177%
 Azerbaijan8,8000.095%--
 Iran8,756[29]0.011%12,000[24]0.013%
 New Zealand7,5000.17%--
 Denmark6,4000.114%8,5000.151%
 Latvia6,3000.315%12,5000.625%
 Hong Kong 6,000 0.08293249295%
 India5,0000.00041315709%--
 Greece4,5000.042%6,0000.056%
 Uzbekistan4,0000.013%--
 Czech Republic3,9000.037%6,5000.062%
 Republic of Moldova3,8000.093%7,5000.184%
 Lithuania3,4000.106%6,5000.203%
 Kazakhstan3,2000.019%6,4000.038%
 Georgia2,9000.064%--
 Slovakia2,6000.048%4,5000.083%
 Costa Rica2,5000.056%--
 Colombia4,5000.005%--
 China2,5000.00018417834%--
 Morocco2,4000.007%--
 Bulgaria2,0000.028%6,0000.084%
 Estonia2,0000.154%3,4000.262%
 Peru1,9000.006%--
 Croatia1,7000.04%3,0000.071%
 Puerto Rico1,5000.041%--
 Serbia1,4000.02%2,8000.04%
 Finland1,3000.024%1,8000.033%
 Norway1,3000.026%2,0000.04%
 Ireland1,2000.026%1,6000.035%
 Japan1,0000.00012914266%--
 Paraguay1,000[30]0.013%--
 Guatemala9000.006%--
 Tunisia9000.008%--
 Ecuador6000.004%--
 Luxembourg6000.12%9000.18%
 Portugal6000.006%1,0000.01%
 Gibraltar6001.935%--
 Cuba5000.004%--
 British Virgin Islands5000.455%--
 Bolivia5000.005%--
 Bosnia and Herzegovina5000.013%1,0000.026%
 Kyrgyzstan5000.009%--
 Zimbabwe4000.00012914266%--
 Bahamas3000.075%--
 Singapore3000.006%--
 Vietnam3000.00033065138%- -
 Kenya3000.00012914266%--
 Republic of Macedonia2600.005%--
 Jamaica2000.007%--
 Netherlands Antilles2000.065%--
 Suriname2000.04%--
 Turkmenistan2000.004%--
 Thailand2000.0002997595%--
 French Polynesia1200.044% --
 Armenia1000.00331251527%--
 Dominican Republic1000.001%--
 El Salvador1000.00012914266%--
 Cyprus1000.008%--
 Malta1000.025%--
 Slovenia1000.005%2000.01%
 South Korea1000.000194924%--
 Philippines1000.00009938616%--
 Taiwan1000.00042783463%--
 Ethiopia1000.00011101734%--
 Botswana1000.005%--
 Democratic Republic of the Congo1000.00012914266%--
 Namibia1000.004%--
 Nigeria1000.00012914266%--
 Tahiti1000.054%- -
 Martinique900.02328674259%- -
 Algeria500.00012919896%- -
 Fiji600.00699269729%- -
 New Caledonia500.01860347438%- -
 Syria500.0002785261%--
 Albania450.00148996311%- -
 Yemen400.0001678345%- -
 Lebanon400.00080549119%- -
 Bahrain360.00268056589%--
 Egypt120.00001363636%- - [31][32][33]
 Palau90.05%--
 Afghanistan1[34]0.00000314239%
Other250~~

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wisse, Ruth (2007). Jews and Power. Schocken Books. p. 188. ISBN 978-0805242249.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 DellaPergola, Sergio (2013). Dashefsky, Arnold; Sheskin, Ira, eds. "World Jewish Population, 2013". Current Jewish Population Reports (The American Jewish Year Book (Dordrecht: Springer)) 113: pp 279–358. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "US Jewish Population is Anywhere Between 5.425 Million and 6.722 Million". Jewish Political News and Updates. February 18, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  4. ↑ "World Jewish Population - Latest Statistics". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Haredi Orthodox account for bulk of Jewish population growth in New York City - Nation". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Yaakov Levi. "Israel Population Now 8.2 Million - 75% Are Jewish". Israel National News. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Fertility Rates, by Age and Religion". Statistical Abstract of Israel. Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 11 September 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Data: Arab Growth Slows, Still Higher than Jewish Rate". Israel National News. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  9. ↑ Post-Soviet Aliyah and Jewish Demographic Transformation - Mark Tolts.
  10. ↑ "Immigration to Israel by Year". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Demography". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  12. ↑ RFI (7 September 2014). "Les juifs de France émigrent en masse vers Israël". RFI. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "La communauté juive de France compte 550.000 personnes, dont 25.000 à Toulouse". France info. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  14. ↑ "France tops list for Jewish emigration to Israel". RFI. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  15. ↑ Sheshkin, Ira; Dashefsky, Arnold (November 2, 2012). Dashefsky, Arnold; Sheskin, Ira, eds. "Jewish Population in the United States, 2012" (PDF). Current Jewish Population Reports. Storrs, Connecticut: North American Jewish Data Bank. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  16. ↑ Tighe, Elizabeth et al. (September 2013). "American Jewish Population Estimates: 2012" (PDF). Brandeis University: Steinhardt Social Research Institute. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  17. ↑ 2012. Retrieved on 2014-01-30
  18. ↑ "Jewish populations in Europe". Institute for Jewish Policy Research. Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  19. ↑ Congreso Judío Latinoamericano. "Comunidades judías latinoamericanas: Argentina" (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  20. ↑ La Nación. "Judíos en el censo poblacional (Argentina)" (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  21. ↑ 2010 Brazilian census Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Retrieved on 2014-01-30
  22. ↑ "Census shows Jews are on the move". The Australian Jewish News. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  23. ↑ "Census reveals city's changes". The Age. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 DellaPergola, Sergio (November 2, 2012). Dashefsky, Arnold; Sheskin, Ira, eds. "World Jewish Population, 2012" (PDF). Current Jewish Population Reports. Storrs, Connecticut: North American Jewish Data Bank. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  25. ↑ The Jewish Community of Ukraine European Jewish Congress
  26. ↑ "Panorama de las religiones en México 2010" (PDF) (in Spanish). INEGI. p. 3. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  27. ↑ "Warsaw Jews to Open First JCC in Polish Capital". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  28. ↑ Congreso Judío Latinoamericano. "Comunidades judías latinoamericanas: Uruguay" (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  29. ↑ "Jewish woman brutally murdered in Iran over property dispute". The Times of Israel. November 28, 2012. Retrieved Aug 16, 2014. A government census published earlier this year indicated there were a mere 8,756 Jews left in Iran
  30. ↑ Congreso Judío Latinoamericano. "Comunidades judías latinoamericanas: Paraguay" (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  31. ↑ Al Jazeera. "Egypt's Jewish community buries deputy leader". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  32. ↑ "As the U.S. Embassy in Cairo Is Mobbed, Egypt's Last Jews Prepare for High Holidays Without Rabbi". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  33. ↑ "BBC News - Egypt's Jewish community's lost future". BBC News. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  34. ↑ "Last Jew in Afghanistan faces ruin as kebabs fail to sell". Reuters. Retrieved 14 February 2015.

External links