Jerusalem 2012 - the state of things

Recent figures about the city published by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.

By PEGGY CIDOR
Runners in Jerusalem 521 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Runners in Jerusalem 521
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Every year on Jerusalem Day, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies (JIIS) publishes the latest figures about the city. The most recent figures relate to the findings at the end of 2010.
Here are some examples.
By the end of 2010, Jerusalem’s population was 789,000 residents: 504,000 of them Jews (64%) and 285,000 Arabs (36%.). In terms of religion, 492,000 were Jewish (62%); 273,000 Muslim (35%); and 15,000 Christian (2%).
During 2010, Jerusalem’s population increased by 2.1% (1.4% in the Jewish and 3.3% among Arabs). Since 1967, the population of the city has grown by 196%: Jews 155% and Arabs 315% .
The youngest secular Jewish residents live in Har Homa (average age 22); Givat Mordechai (24); and French Hill (27), while the oldest live in Kiryat Wolfson (66); Nayot and Neveh Sha’anan (45); and Talbiyeh (43). The youngest religious residents live in Kiryat Kaminitz (16); Ramat Shlomo and Mea She’arim (16), and the oldest are in Sha’arei Hesed (25) and Har Nof (21).
During 2010, some 11,250 people moved to Jerusalem, while 18,600 locals left the city.
During the last decade, about one-half of the residents (53%) who chose to leave Jerusalem moved to cities and towns in the Jerusalem area. That year, 680 Tel Aviv residents moved to Jerusalem; 660 moved here from Bnei Brak; 500 from Beit Shemesh; and 440 from Ma’aleh Adumim. Among those who left Jerusalem, as well as those who moved here, the majority were aged 20 to 34.
During 2010, the birth rate among Jews in Jerusalem was 4.2% compared to 3.9% for Arabs.
In the past few years there has been a steady increase in the birth rate among Jews and a drop in the birth rate among Arab women. Altogether, 22,400 babies were born in the city during 2010: some 14,100 to Jewish parents and 8,300 to Arab parents. In the city there are 7,900 single-parent families.
Some 83% of Jerusalem residents say they are satisfied with their place of work, compared to 86% in the country as a whole and 88% in Tel Aviv. Jerusalemites feel more secure in regard to their employment (58%) compared to Tel Aviv residents (51%.). Residents of the capital are more satisfied with their income (59%) than Tel Aviv residents (57%).
In general, residents of Jerusalem are satisfied with their life here (89%), while 86% of Tel Aviv residents feel the same way.
There are far more religious and haredi residents in Jerusalem than in the rest of the country.
Haredim number 29% and religious residents 21% compared to 8% and 10% respectively in Israel (in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Rishon Lezion, haredim represent 1%-3% of the residents).
Secular Jews represent 19% of the population in Jerusalem, compared to 59% in Tel Aviv, 58% in Haifa and 47% in Rishon Lezion. Some 60% of non-Jewish residents of the city described themselves as religious; 21% as not so religious; and 5% as non-religious. In the country in general, the numbers are 46%, 26% and 21%, respectively.
In regard to tourism, Jerusalem obtained 18% of the total income for hotels in the country, with NIS 1.6 million, mostly from hotels in west Jerusalem (90%) but still less than Tel Aviv, where the total income from hotels was NIS 1.7m.
The number of tourists who spent at least one night in Jerusalem during their stay in the country was 1,336,400. Some 71% of them were visitors from abroad and 29% were Israelis. American tourists who visited the city and stayed here overnight represent 45% (25% in Tel Aviv).
Europeans spent fewer nights in the Holy City, with 40% of the total number of nights spent by tourists here, compared to 45% in Tel Aviv and 41% in Haifa. Generally speaking, tourists still spend a short time in Jerusalem (in regard to hotel stays), and that figure hasn’t changed since 2007: 3.3 nights for foreign tourists and 1.8 nights for Israeli visitors.
In regard to property tax, the neighborhood in which the reduction on that tax is the highest is east Neveh Ya’acov (54%), Mea She’arim (53%) and the Bukharan Quarter (50%). The lowest reductions is in Kfar David (6%) and Yemin Moshe and the villa zone in Ramot (11%). In the Arab neighborhoods, the reduction on the tax runs between 17% (the Armenian Quarter) and 43% (Issawiyeh.) •