Who Goes to University in Israel?
Women were 58.3% to 71.0% of students in higher education in every population group the Central Bureau of Statistics counted for 2024/25.
58.3% to 71.0% of students in higher education were women in every population group the Central Bureau of Statistics counted for the 2024/25 academic year. The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes its student counts by population group and by origin, in occasion releases: Christians at Christmas, Moslems at Eid al-Adha, Druze at the Nabi Shu’ayb festival, and residents of Ethiopian origin at Sigd. Each release is the Bureau’s own compilation, each carries its own reference year, and each counts a different population.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 71.0% | Share of women among Moslem students in higher education | 2024/25 academic year |
| 63.3% | Share of women among Druze students in higher education | 2024/25 academic year |
| 61.1% | Share of women among Christian students in higher education | 2024/25 academic year |
| 58.3% | Share of women among students of Jews and Others in higher education | 2024/25 academic year |
| 6,700 | Christian students in higher education, 2.2% of all students, with about 500 more at the Open University | 2024/25 academic year |
| 5,859 | Druze students attending all institutions of higher education | 2022/23 academic year |
| 395,348 | Moslem students in primary and secondary education, in the system supervised by the Ministry of Education | 2020/21 school year |
| 32,702 | Students of Ethiopian origin in the education system | 2021/22 school year |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, occasion media releases for Christmas 2025, the Nabi Shu’ayb festival 2024, the Sigd festival 2023 and Eid al-Adha 2022. The rows are the Bureau’s own counts, on different reference years.
Women are 58.3% to 71.0% of students in every group counted
The Central Bureau of Statistics published the share of women among students in higher education for four population groups in its Christmas 2025 media release, covering the 2024/25 academic year. Each share is the Bureau’s own count of women among that group’s own students, not a share of all students in Israel. The four groups are separate populations rather than parts of one whole.
The Bureau counts Moslem students in its Eid al-Adha release
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 395,348 Moslem students in primary and secondary education in the 2020/21 school year, in its Eid al-Adha media release of 6 July 2022. That count is the Bureau’s own compilation, and it covers only the education system supervised by the Ministry of Education, with the release stating that data were lacking for many educational institutions in East Jerusalem. That release publishes no count of Moslem students in higher education.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 395,348 | Moslem students in primary and secondary education, Ministry of Education supervised system | 2020/21 school year |
| 1.707 million | Moslem population of Israel, 18.1% of all residents | End of 2021 |
| 2.1% | Annual growth rate of the Moslem population | 2021 |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Eid al-Adha media release 217/2022. The release states that its population data are preliminary.
The Nabi Shu’ayb 2024 release carries the Druze student figure
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 5,859 Druze students attending all institutions of higher education in the 2022/23 academic year, a rise of 0.2% on the previous year, in its Nabi Shu’ayb festival media release of 2024. The figure is the Bureau’s own count across all higher education institutions rather than at any one university. Set against 1,600 Druze students in higher education in 1999/00, the release records an increase by a factor of 3.5.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 5,859 | Druze students at all institutions of higher education | 2022/23 academic year |
| 1,600 | Druze students in higher education, the comparison year the release uses | 1999/00 academic year |
| 185 | Druze academic teaching staff at institutions of higher education, up 1.0% from 183 | 2022/23 academic year |
| 3,741 | Druze employed as teaching staff in the education system, against 3,633 the previous year | 2023/24 school year |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Nabi Shu’ayb festival media release, 2024.
The Sigd 2023 release counts students of Ethiopian origin
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 32,702 students of Ethiopian origin in the education system in the 2021/22 school year, in its Sigd festival media release of 2023. The count is the Bureau’s own, and the group is defined in that release as residents born in Ethiopia together with residents born in Israel whose fathers were born in Ethiopia, so a further 6,144 Israeli-born residents whose mothers were born in Ethiopia sit outside it.
- 94.4% of 12th grade students of Ethiopian origin took matriculation exams in the 2021/22 school year, against 96.2% of the overall Hebrew education sector.
- 168,800 residents of Ethiopian origin lived in Israel at the end of 2022, of whom about 92,100 were born in Ethiopia and about 76,800 were born in Israel to an Ethiopian-born father.
- 26.5% of the population of Ethiopian origin were aged 0 to 14 at the end of 2022, of whom about 92.6% were born in Israel.
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Sigd festival media release, 2023.
No release here counts students by institution or by yeshiva background
None of the four Central Bureau of Statistics releases used on this page names a university or a college. None of them carries a count of Haredi students, of international students, or of students who served in the military before enrolling. What the Central Bureau of Statistics publishes in these releases, on its own compilation, is students by population group and by origin, with one reference year attached to each release.
The one continuation rate published here is for a named group and a named school system: the Central Bureau of Statistics recorded that 55.1% of Arab Christians continued their studies toward a first degree within eight years of graduating high school, against 34.6% of all graduates of the Arab school system and 48.1% in Hebrew education, in its Christmas 2023 release on Christians in Israel.
Which figures on this page may not be added together?
The higher education figures sit on three different reference years: 2024/25 for the shares of women and the Christian student count, 2022/23 for the Druze student count, and 2021/22 for the count of students of Ethiopian origin. They are not one series and may not be summed into a student body total.
The Moslem figure of 395,348 and the figure of 32,702 for students of Ethiopian origin count school students in the education system, not students in higher education, so neither may be placed beside 6,700 or 5,859. Ethiopian origin is an origin group, not a population group, and it overlaps the group the Central Bureau of Statistics calls Jews and Others rather than standing beside it. Each share of women is a share of that group’s own students, so the four percentages have four different denominators.
Questions readers ask
Which body publishes student counts in Israel by population group?
The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes them, in media releases tied to festivals and holidays, on its own compilation of the education and higher education records.
How many Christian students are in higher education in Israel?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 6,700 Christian students in higher education in the 2024/25 academic year, 2.2% of all students, with about 500 more at the Open University.
How many Druze students are in higher education?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 5,859 Druze students at all institutions of higher education in the 2022/23 academic year, a rise of 0.2% on the previous year.
In which group is the share of women among students highest?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded the highest share among Moslem students, at 71.0% in the 2024/25 academic year.
Does the Central Bureau of Statistics publish student numbers by university?
The four releases used here publish no figures by institution. They count students by population group and by origin.
Does the Central Bureau of Statistics count Haredi students in these releases?
These four releases carry no count of Haredi students in higher education.
Does the Central Bureau of Statistics count international students in these releases?
These four releases carry no count of students who came to Israel from abroad to study.
How many Moslem students are in school in Israel?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 395,348 Moslem students in primary and secondary education in the 2020/21 school year, in the system supervised by the Ministry of Education.
What did that Moslem school count leave out?
The Central Bureau of Statistics stated in the same release that data were lacking for many educational institutions in East Jerusalem.
How many students of Ethiopian origin are in the education system?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 32,702 in the 2021/22 school year, using a definition of Ethiopian origin that covers Ethiopian-born residents and Israeli-born residents with an Ethiopian-born father.
How many Christian students are in Israel’s schools?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 26,240 Christian students in primary and secondary schools in the 2024/25 school year, 1.3% of all students.
What share of Christian 12th graders were eligible for a matriculation certificate?
The Central Bureau of Statistics reported 87.7% eligibility among Christian 12th grade students in the 2024/25 school year.
How many Druze teach in Israel’s education system?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 3,741 Druze employed as teaching staff in the education system in the 2023/24 school year, against 3,633 the previous year.
Sources
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2022. The Moslem Population in Israel: Data on the Occasion of Eid al-Adha (The Feast of the Sacrifice). Media release 217/2022. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2023. Christmas 2023 - Christians in Israel. Media release. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2023. The Population of Ethiopian Origin in Israel: Selected Data Published on the Occasion of the Sigd Festival 2023. Media release. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2024. The Druze Population of Israel On the Occasion of the Nabi Shu’ayb Festival 2024. Media release. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2025. Christmas 2025 - Christians in Israel. Media release. Official or primary record.
