The following is a snapshot of Israel as the country celebrates Rosh HaShana 5763 or the Jewish New Year in September 2002.

POPULATION

There are 6,592,000 residents in Israel.

• 77.2% Jews, 15.4% Muslims, 2.1% Christians, 1.6% Druze, 3.5% unaffiliated
• 19% of Israeli citizens are Arab - approximately the same as it when the country was established in 1948.

POPULATION GROWTH

Population growth was 1.4% over the year 2000. The average growth rate during the years 1997-2000 was 1.8%.

POPULATION DENSITY

Israel has one of the highest population densities in the world, with an average of 294 people per square kilometer. Israel's population density has multiplied by six since the nation was established in 1948.

IMMIGRATION

• 43,600 people immigrated to Israel in 2001, down 28% from the year 2000 when 60,200 immigrants arrived.
• Since the nation was formed a total of 2,894,094 people immigrated to Israel: 454,100 from Asia, 519,700 from Africa, 1,761,196 from Europe and 258,000 from America.
• 20,000 Israelis chose to live outside of Israel in the year 2001. 7,000 Israelis, who had resided abroad for over a year, returned to Israel in 2001.

BIRTHS

• There was a 0.5% increase in the number of births in Israel in 2001. 136,638 babies were born during 2001 - 91,230 to Jewish women and 36,317 to Muslim women.
• On average, Jewish Israeli women give birth to 2.71 children in their lifetime, compared to Palestinian women, who give birth to 4.6 children.
• 11% of Israeli families are single-parent families, which totaled 95,100 last year.

INCOME

• The average monthly household income for 2001 was 11,058 shekels ($2332) before taxes and 8,496 shekels ($1792) after taxes.
• Monthly expenses per family were estimated at 9,749 shekels ($2057).
• 37,902 businesses closed in 2001 to due to the recession
• The unemployment rate was estimated at 9.3% of the population.