How Many People Does Israel Count in the West Bank? 504,700 in Israeli Localities
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics counts 504,700 people in the West Bank’s Israeli localities, preliminary, at 31 December 2023.
The Israeli localities of the West Bank held 504,700 people at 31 December 2023, on the Central Bureau of Statistics’ preliminary estimate. The Bureau records them in a row it calls the Judea and Samaria Area and defines as Israeli localities only. The Area’s Palestinian population is outside that table. East Jerusalem sits in the Jerusalem District rather than in this row.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 504,700 | Population of Israeli localities in the Judea and Samaria Area, preliminary, including the foreign population | 31 December 2023 |
| 481,900 | The same row, at census | 2 April 2022 |
| 500,000 | Jews and Others within the 504,700 | 31 December 2023 |
| 127 | Israeli localities in the Area | 2022 and 2023 |
| 134,300 | The row in 1995, including Israeli localities in Gaza and northern Samaria evacuated in 2005 | 31 December 1995 |
| 9,914,700 | National total population, preliminary | 31 December 2023 |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.16, published in thousands.
The Bureau counted 504,700 people in the Area’s Israeli localities
The Central Bureau of Statistics counts the Area locality by locality. Footnote 6 of Table 2.16 limits the row to Israeli localities. The row sits among the country’s districts in the same table that carries the national total of 9,914,700.
- Inside the row: residents of the Area’s Israeli localities. From the 2022 census onward, this includes the foreign population living in them.
- Outside the row, in the Jerusalem District: East Jerusalem.
- Outside the table: the Area’s Palestinian population. Neither the row nor the national total in Table 2.16 includes it.
- Not printed: a share. 504,700 of 9,914,700 is about 5.1%, a division the Bureau does not publish in this table.
Those localities held 1,500 people in 1972 and 134,300 in 1995
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 1,500 people in the row at the 20 May 1972 census and 134,300 at 31 December 1995. The series does not cover one continuous set of localities. Footnote 6 states that the 1972, 1983 and 1995 figures include the Israeli localities in Gaza and northern Samaria evacuated in August 2005. The 1972 figure also includes Sinai.
Jews and Others made up 500,000 of the 504,700
The Central Bureau of Statistics puts 500,000 of the row’s 504,700 residents in its Jews and Others group at 31 December 2023. The remaining 4,700 fall outside that group. From the 2022 census onward, the estimates include the foreign population.
| Date | Total | Jews and Others | Outside that group |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 April 2022, census | 481,900 | 477,500 | 4,400 |
| 31 December 2023, preliminary | 504,700 | 500,000 | 4,700 |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.16. The last column subtracts the two published columns. The Bureau does not print it.
The Bureau lists 127 Israeli localities in the Area
The Central Bureau of Statistics counts 127 Israeli localities in the Area in both 2022 and 2023, against 119 in 2008. Under footnote 6, the 138 recorded for 1995 include the Israeli localities in Gaza and northern Samaria evacuated in 2005.
| Date | Localities | Note in Table 2.16 |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 15 | Includes Sinai, Gaza and northern Samaria |
| 1983 | 81 | Includes Gaza and northern Samaria |
| 1995 | 138 | Includes Gaza and northern Samaria |
| 2008 | 119 | None |
| 2022 | 127 | None |
| 2023 | 127 | None |
A second count covers a narrower scope. The State Comptroller recorded 120 Israeli localities in Area C in its 2016 audit, which ran from 2014 to 2015. That figure is the Civil Administration’s own count, on its own definitions. The Comptroller states that 87 of those localities were established and settled by the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization, and that they hold about 100,000 residents.
Which figures may not be added together?
- The Table 2.16 row counts Israeli localities only. It is not the Area’s whole population.
- The figures for 1995 and earlier include the Gaza and northern Samaria localities evacuated in 2005, so the series is not like for like across that year.
- East Jerusalem residents are counted in the Jerusalem District and do not belong in the 504,700.
- The Bureau’s 127 localities and the Civil Administration’s 120 in Area C rest on different definitions and scopes. They are not one series.
- The about 100,000 residents belong to the 87 Settlement Division localities, not to all 120.
- The 2023 figures are preliminary.
Questions readers ask
Does Israel count West Bank Palestinians in its population?
No. The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes Table 2.16 with a Judea and Samaria row that counts Israeli localities only. The Area’s Palestinian population is outside the table, including its national total of 9,914,700.
How many Palestinians live in the West Bank on Israel’s count?
The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes no figure for the Area’s Palestinian population in Table 2.16. The table’s only Area row covers Israeli localities.
Are East Jerusalem residents part of the 504,700?
No. The Central Bureau of Statistics records East Jerusalem in the Jerusalem District, not in the Judea and Samaria Area row.
Are all 504,700 Israeli citizens?
The Central Bureau of Statistics reports the row by population group, not by citizenship. From the 2022 census onward, its estimates include the foreign population.
Is the 2023 figure final?
No. The Central Bureau of Statistics published the 31 December 2023 figure of 504,700 as preliminary. The last census figure is 481,900, taken at 2 April 2022.
How many people did the row hold in 1983?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 23,700 people across 81 localities at the 4 June 1983 census. Both figures include the Israeli localities in Gaza and northern Samaria evacuated in 2005.
Why were there more localities in 1995 than today?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 138 localities in 1995. That figure includes the Israeli localities in Gaza and northern Samaria evacuated in 2005. The count was 127 in 2023.
How many homes are being built in the Area’s Israeli localities?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 1,092 dwellings begun in 2024, a preliminary figure, against 2,724 in 2022 and 2,234 in 2023. It recorded 2,026 dwellings completed in 2024. These are counts of dwellings, not of buildings or localities.
Do Area localities appear among the highest for natural increase?
Yes. The Central Bureau of Statistics lists Modi’in Illit, at 40.9 per 1,000 residents, and Immanuel, at 39.8, among the four Jewish local authorities with the highest natural increase in 2020, against 13.9 nationally. It places both in the Judea and Samaria District and classifies both as Haredi in character. The Bureau states that high rates are found mainly in Haredi Jewish and Muslim local authorities. Natural increase is births minus deaths, not population growth.
Does Israeli law apply in the Area?
The State Comptroller stated in its 2016 audit that Israel holds the Area by way of belligerent occupation, and that Israeli law does not apply there. That sentence is the Comptroller’s own statement of the legal framework, not a government decision.
Who publishes Israel’s figure for the Area?
The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes it in the Statistical Abstract of Israel, Table 2.16. The figures appear in thousands, alongside census dates back to 1948.
Sources
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2022. Local Authorities in Israel 2020: Introduction, Comparative Tables. Publication 1879, Table D. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2022/local_authorities20_1879/h_print.pdf. Official record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2024. Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.16: Localities and Population, by District, Sub-District and Population Group. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2024/2.shnatonpopulation/st02_16x.pdf. Official record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2025. Statistical Abstract of Israel 2025, Table 20.6: Dwellings, by Construction Stage, Type of Locality, District and Type of Building. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2025/20.%20shnatonconstructionhousingandrealestate/st20_06.pdf. Official record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2016. Judea and Samaria Area: Activity of the Supervision and Enforcement Unit and Aspects of Land Registration. Annual Report 66b. https://library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/2016-66b-201-IOSH.pdf. Official record.
