Israel’s Christian Population Growing, Says Report

December 30, 2022316 views0

Israel’s Christian Population Growing, Says Report

2022-12-30T08:14:40+01:00

By Marie

A yearly report looking into Israel’s religious communities has revealed that the Christian population grew slightly in 2021.Concentrated mainly in the country’s north region, Israel’s Christian community grew by two per cent and represented 1.9 per cent of the nation’s population.According to the report published, most Christians reside in Nazareth (21,000), followed by Haifa (16,700), and hefar’am (10,500). Some 13,000 Christians reside in Jerusalem.The report, conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics, also found that 75.8 per cent of Christians in the nation are Arab Christians, accounting for almost seven per cent of the Arab population.The average size of a Christian household was also calculated to be three people, equalling the size of a Jewish household but lower than a Muslim household which is typically four people or more.“The total fertility rate of a Christian woman [in 2021] was an average of 1.77 children per woman, [compared to] 1.8 in 2019. The number of children per Arab Christian woman was lower still, at 1.68 children per woman,” the report said.The report also looked at the number of Arab Christians seeking higher education, finding 52.9 per cent did so after completing high school. This represents a more significant proportion than in the Arab Muslim population (31.2 per cent) and the Jewish population (48.2 per cent).Most Arab Christians choose to live in Israel’s northern (70.2%) and Haifa (13.6%) districts. 36.3% of non-Arab Christians similarly reside in Israel’s more northern parts, 39% however, prefer to live in the Tel Aviv and central districts.The cities with the largest Arab Christian population are Nazareth (21,000), Haifa (16,700), Jerusalem (12,900) and Shfaram (10,500). Non-Arab Christians, quite similarly, prefer to reside in large metropolis cities like Haifa (3,900), Tel Aviv-Yafo (3,800) and Jerusalem (3,400).In 2021, the growth rate of the Christian population was 2%. For comparison, the growth rate of the Jewish population was 1.6%, and of the Muslim population – 2.2%.ALSO READ Churches Unite Around Major Report On Cost of Living