How Many People Have Immigrated to Israel Since 1948?

More than 3.5 million immigrants have arrived in Israel since the establishment of the State in 1948, and the Central Bureau of Statistics recorded about 1.68 million of them, 47.8%, arriving from 1990 onward. Both figures come from the Bureau’s Independence Day release of April 2026. Israel’s population at the establishment of the State was 806,000, which the Bureau states is more than 12.5 times smaller than the population today.

Figure	What it counts	Period
over 3.5 million	Immigrants who have arrived in Israel since the establishment of the State	1948 to 2026
about 1.68 million (47.8%)	Immigrants who arrived from 1990 onward, as a share of all arrivals since 1948	1990 to 2026
about 158,000	Immigrating citizens, meaning people born to an Israeli citizen abroad who entered intending to settle	1970 to 2026
about 21,000	Immigrants who arrived over the year to the 78th Independence Day	The 11.75 months to 22 April 2026
806,000	Population of Israel at the establishment of the State	1948
10.244 million	Population of Israel, preliminary	Eve of the 78th Independence Day, April 2026

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel’s Independence Day 2026, media release 117/2026.

Almost half of all arrivals since 1948 came after 1990

The Central Bureau of Statistics put the post-1990 share at 47.8% in its April 2026 release, on about 1.68 million arrivals out of more than 3.5 million since the founding of the State. The Bureau reported the same share as 47.6% on about 1.66 million a year earlier, in its Independence Day release of 2025.

Those two readings come from consecutive releases on the same basis, so the direction is the Bureau’s own. The absolute totals are stated as floors, written as “over 3.5 million”, and a floor is not restated here as an exact number.

More than 500,000 arrived from the former Soviet Union from 1989

Berthomière recorded more than 500,000 migrants arriving in Israel from the former Soviet Union from 1989, in a 1995 study of that wave in the Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales. That figure counts migration alone. It is not natural increase and it cannot be folded into Israel’s birth rate.

Factor and Habib documented the scale of the same wave from the other end, reporting that Israel’s population rose about 10% between 1990 and 1993 and projecting growth above 30% by the end of that decade. Their study is a cost-projection model of service needs, so the 10% is the growth its model works from rather than a fertility measurement.

Holocaust survivors in Israel arrived across four distinct periods

The Central Bureau of Statistics published the period of immigration for Holocaust survivors living in Israel in its Holocaust Day release of 2025.

The Bureau states that this survivor category also covers people recognised as victims of antisemitic persecution outside Europe, among them residents of Iraq who underwent the Farhud of June 1941.

Immigration from Ethiopia ran between 1,080 and 1,755 a year

The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 1,680 immigrants arriving from Ethiopia in 2022, 1,755 in 2021 and 1,080 in 2020. It recorded 168,800 residents of Ethiopian origin in Israel at the end of 2022, of whom approximately 92,100, or 55%, were born in Ethiopia and 76,800, about 45%, were born in Israel to a father born there.

The Bureau defines Ethiopian origin as Ethiopian-born residents plus Israeli-born residents with an Ethiopian-born father. It counts a further 6,144 Israeli-born residents whose mother was born in Ethiopia outside that 168,800 total.

The Bureau’s Independence Day series is not continuous before 2023

The Central Bureau of Statistics states that from 2023 its population estimates include foreigners staying in Israel, including permit holders who entered from 2008 with no record of exiting. That is a definitional change, so the totals on either side of it are not one series.

The base moved too. The Bureau states that its 2025 and 2026 Independence Day estimates rest on the 2022 census, while the 2024 release rested on the 2008 census and excluded a foreign worker population the Bureau estimated at 222,500 at the end of 2022. A reader comparing an Independence Day total from 2024 with one from 2026 is comparing two different constructions.

Where these figures come from

The immigration totals, the 1948 population and the current population come from the Central Bureau of Statistics’ Independence Day releases, which are preliminary and are dated to a stated cut-off rather than to a calendar year end. The survivor arrival shares are estimates for the beginning of 2025 from the Bureau’s Holocaust Day release, and the Ethiopian figures are for the end of 2022 from its Sigd release.

The former Soviet Union figure is Berthomière’s and the 1990 to 1993 growth figure is Factor and Habib’s, both from peer-reviewed journals rather than from the Bureau. Every total stated as a floor, including the “over 3.5 million”, keeps its hedge here.

Questions

How many people have immigrated to Israel since 1948?

More than 3.5 million, on the Central Bureau of Statistics’ figures for April 2026. The Bureau states that total as a floor.

How many arrived after 1990?

About 1.68 million, or 47.8% of all arrivals since 1948.

What was Israel’s population in 1948?

806,000 at the establishment of the State, which the Central Bureau of Statistics states is more than 12.5 times smaller than the population today.

How many immigrants arrived in the most recent year?

About 21,000 over the 11.75 months to 22 April 2026.

What is an immigrating citizen?

A person born to an Israeli citizen abroad who enters Israel intending to settle. The Central Bureau of Statistics counted about 158,000 of them from 1970 to 2026.

How many came from the former Soviet Union?

More than 500,000 from 1989, on Berthomière’s 1995 study. That is migration only and is not natural increase.

How fast did the population grow during that wave?

Factor and Habib reported a rise of about 10% between 1990 and 1993, in a model of elderly service needs rather than a fertility study.

When did Holocaust survivors living in Israel arrive?

6.1% between 1933 and 1947, 30.3% between 1948 and 1951, 30.0% between 1952 and 1989, and 33.6% since the 1990s.

How many people of Ethiopian origin live in Israel?

168,800 at the end of 2022, of whom about 55% were born in Ethiopia and about 45% were born in Israel to a father born there.

How many immigrants arrived from Ethiopia recently?

1,680 in 2022, 1,755 in 2021 and 1,080 in 2020, on the Central Bureau of Statistics’ counts.

Can Independence Day totals be compared across years?

Not across 2023. The Central Bureau of Statistics states that estimates include foreigners from 2023, and the 2024 release rested on the 2008 census while the 2025 and 2026 releases rest on the 2022 one.

Are the immigration totals exact?

No. The Bureau publishes them as floors, written as “over 3.5 million” and “about 1.68 million”, and they keep those hedges.

Sources

• Central Bureau of Statistics, 2026. Israel’s Independence Day 2026. Media release 117/2026.
• Central Bureau of Statistics, 2025. Israel’s Independence Day 2025. Media release 134/2025.
• Central Bureau of Statistics, 2023. The Population of Ethiopian Origin in Israel. Media release 362/2023.
• Berthomière, W., 1995. The Migration of Jews from the Former Soviet Union. Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, 11(3), pp. 19 to 41.
• Factor, H. and Habib, J., 1993. A Model of the Impact of Immigration on Health and Social Service Expenditures for the Elderly. Public Finance, 48(Supplement), pp. 147 to 177.