Facts and figures inside Jerusalem

The Jewish population Jerusalem in the 20-and-up age bracket is 34% secular, 34% haredi and 32% religiously observant.

By PEGGY CIDOR
Updated: MAY 13, 2018 16:02
An Israeli flag is seen near the Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem's Old City (photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
An Israeli flag is seen near the Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem's Old City
(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
In honor of Jerusalem Day, let’s take a glimpse at some statistics and what they say about us.
The yearly Facts and Trends in the State of the City and It’s Changing Trends report provided by the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research is based on data gathered by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the municipality and the National Insurance Institute.
By the end of 2015, Jerusalem had 865,700 residents – 528,700 (63%) Jews and 323,700 (37%) Arabs, of whom 95% are Muslims, and 5% Christians. In the addition to the 865,700 residents in the urban core 2015, there are 358,100 in the “outer ring,” for a total population of 1.22 million.
The Jewish population in the 20-and-up age bracket is 34% secular, 34% haredi and 32% religiously observant.
Some 47% of the city’s total municipal area is considered built up, while 53% is open area. By comparison, Tel Aviv is 73% built up with only 27% open area.
About 330,000 Jews and 3,300 Arabs live in the city’s western side; on its eastern side are 320,000 Arabs and 211,000 Jews (including those living in neighborhoods built after 1967 – beyond the Green Line.)
The annual birth rate of Jerusalem’s population has changed over the years. From 1967 to 1980, the growth rate was 4% for Arabs and 3.1% for Jews; from 2000 to 2010, the Arab growth rate was 3.1% compared to 1.2% for Jews. In the most recent period, 2010 and 2015, the raters were 2.7% for Arabs and 1.5% for Jews. The trend seems to be that the gap is closing.
The population of Jerusalem is relatively young. In 2015, the average age of residents was 24 years old. In comparison, the median ages of the populations of Tel Aviv and Haifa were 35 and 38. The median age of Israel’s total population 1s 30. Some 34% of the city’s general population are under 14-years-old; , in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) sector, this figure is 40%.
Jerusalem residents who moved out of the city in 2015 went to Beit Shemesh (1,970) and Tel Aviv (1,540). Most of the rest moved to Modi’in Illit, Beitar Illit and Givat Ze’ev (3,080 in total). That same year, 630 moved to the city from Bnei Brak, 600 from Tel Aviv, 570 from Beit Shemesh and 450 from Ma’aleh Adumim.
In 2015, a total of 10,300 new residents moved to Jerusalem from other localities in Israel. This is comparable to the 2014 figure (10,350) and slightly lower than the 2013 total (10,500). A notable portion (3,900 residents, 38%) of the newcomers came from metropolitan Tel Aviv, as well as metropolitan Jerusalem (3,200 residents, 31%). The highest proportion of newcomers was recorded in the city center, with 60 newcomers per 1,000 residents; Nahlaot was right behind with 56; followed by Rehavia with 48; and Talbiyeh with 38. These neighborhoods, with large young adult and student populations, are subject to a higher turnover of residents.
Some 18,100 residents left Jerusalem in 2015 for other localities in Israel. More residents left the city that year than in 2014 (17,100). A sizable portion of those leaving Jerusalem to move to other parts within its metropolitan area (7,100 residents, 39% ) or to metropolitan Tel Aviv (6,700 residents, 37%).
Evidently, those leaving the city also constitute a diverse group that includes secular, religiously observant and ultra-Orthodox residents. According to estimates, about 5,900 of those leaving Jerusalem (33% of the total) moved to ultra-Orthodox localities or localities that included a large ultra-Orthodox population. Jerusalem had 3,600 deaths in 2015 – 75% of which were Jewish and 25% Arab. The mortality rate for Jerusalem is 4.3 deaths per 1,000 persons, which is lower than that in Israel overall (5.3), Tel Aviv (7.7) and Haifa (9.4).
Jerusalem’s negative net migration balance (-7,800) for 2015 was higher than the two previous years (-6,700 and -7,400).
In 2014, 2,700 new immigrants chose Jerusalem as their first place of residence; in 2015 this figure rose to 3,100. Overall, there were 24,100 new olim to Israel in 2014, with large contingents from Ukraine, France and Russia.
Jerusalemites are still living in greater poverty than the rest of the country. While the overall poverty line in Israel stood at 14% for Jews and 55% for Arabs in 2015, 27% of Jews and 79% of Arabs were found to be living under the poverty line.
The number of immigrants moving to Jerusalem has remained relatively steady, at an average of 2,500 per year from 2002 to 2007 and an average of 2,300 per year from 2008 to 2013. The number of new immigrants who settled in Jerusalem reached 2,700 in 2014 and 3,100 in 2015.
Some 85% of Jerusalem residents were satisfied or very satisfied with their workplace, while 50% of Jerusalem residents were satisfied or very satisfied with their income.
In Jerusalem, 57% of the residents reportedly had no concerns about loss of work; Tel Aviv reported the lowest sense of security.