How Many Israelis Have a Disability? About 1.6 Million
The State Comptroller counted about 1.6 million people with disabilities in Israel in 2020, about 17% of a population of about 9.2 million.
About 1.6 million people with disabilities lived in Israel in 2020, on the State Comptroller’s audit of the services local authorities provide to people with disabilities, and the count is that office’s own, published as the base for a centre against periphery comparison. The State Comptroller put the figure at about 17% of a population of about 9.2 million. A separate 2024 audit by the same office counts about 44,500 adults with disabilities aged 18 to 40 who are eligible for Ministry of Welfare services, which is a count of eligibility on a narrower age range and not a second prevalence figure.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| About 1.6 million | People with disabilities living in Israel, the audit’s own count | State Comptroller of Israel | 2020 |
| About 17% | Their share of a population of about 9.2 million | State Comptroller of Israel | 2020 |
| About 44,500 | Adults with disabilities aged 18 to 40 eligible for Ministry of Welfare services | State Comptroller of Israel | 2024 audit |
| About 41,000 (94%) | Of those eligible, people not systematically receiving the service audited | State Comptroller of Israel | 2024 audit |
| 10% to 38% | Disability cases as a share of social service department caseloads, across the authorities examined | State Comptroller of Israel | As at the audit |
| 9,662,000 | Israel’s population | Central Bureau of Statistics | End of 2022 |
The Comptroller counts about 1.6 million people with disabilities
The State Comptroller’s audit of services provided by local authorities to people with disabilities opens on the size of the population it is auditing, and the number is the audit’s own count rather than a survey series: about 1.6 million people in 2020, carried with the approximation the audit prints. The subject of the audit is the comparison between centre and periphery in what local authorities deliver, so the figure sits there as the base for that comparison.
- The count is stated with “about” by Israel’s state audit institution and stays a rounded figure.
- Its year is 2020, and the audit publishes it once rather than as an annual series.
- It covers people living in Israel, not a service caseload and not a benefit roll.
The 1.6 million is about 17% of 9.2 million residents
The 17% belongs to the denominator the State Comptroller printed beside it, a population of about 9.2 million for 2020, and about 1.6 million of about 9.2 million is 17.4%. The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded a population of 9,662,000 at the end of 2022 in Israel in Figures 2023, which is a different body, a different year and a different base. Dividing the audit’s count into the Bureau’s later total produces a share neither body published.
- About 1.6 million, the count, and about 9.2 million, the base, both from the State Comptroller for 2020.
- 9,662,000, the population the Central Bureau of Statistics recorded at the end of 2022.
- Both counts are rounded at source, so any share derived from them is approximate.
The 44,500 counts eligible adults 18 to 40, not all
The State Comptroller’s 2024 audit of the Ministry of Welfare’s treatment of adults with disabilities counts about 44,500 people aged 18 to 40 who are eligible to receive services from that ministry, on the ministry’s own eligibility criteria. It is a count of who qualifies for a defined set of state services in one age band, and the audit reports that about 41,000 of them, 94%, did not systematically receive the service it examined. The full record of that audit is set out in the Welfare Ministry’s own eligibility count.
- The 44,500 covers ages 18 to 40 only; the 1.6 million covers all ages.
- Eligibility for ministry services and disability prevalence are different definitions, so the two counts may not be subtracted from one another.
- The 94% is a share of the 44,500, not of the 1.6 million.
Disability cases run 10% to 38% of local welfare caseloads
Across the local authorities the State Comptroller examined, disability cases ran from 10% to 38% of all cases handled by their social service departments, and disability spending ran from 36% to 56% of total welfare spending in those same authorities. Both are ranges across the authorities audited by Israel’s state audit institution, not national rates, and the spread is what the centre against periphery comparison was built to show. The audit publishes no population count by authority, so the 1.6 million cannot be broken down geographically from it.
No count by disability type or severity appears in these audits
Neither the State Comptroller’s audit of local authority services nor its 2024 audit of the Ministry of Welfare’s treatment of adults with disabilities breaks the population down by type of disability or by severity. The only type shares the State Comptroller published sit inside the group recognised as eligible and not served: about 20%, about 530 people, are special education graduates with intellectual developmental disability, and about 32%, about 820 people, have autism.
- Those two shares belong to a group of a few thousand people, not to the 44,500 and not to the 1.6 million.
- Neither audit publishes a physical, cognitive or mental subtotal of the 1.6 million.
- Neither audit publishes an allowance recipient count.
Which figures here may not be added together?
The State Comptroller published the 1.6 million as a prevalence count for 2020 against a base of about 9.2 million, and the 17% belongs to that base and to no other. The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 9,662,000 at the end of 2022, a separate body and a later year, and the two may not be combined into one share. The 44,500 is a Ministry of Welfare eligibility count for ages 18 to 40 and sits inside the wider prevalence figure without being derivable from it. The 10% to 38% and 36% to 56% ranges describe the authorities the audit examined. Every figure above carries the source’s own “about”, and each is kept as an approximation.
Questions readers ask
How many people in Israel have a disability?
The State Comptroller counted about 1.6 million people with disabilities in Israel in 2020, in its audit of the services local authorities provide.
What share of the population is that?
The State Comptroller put it at about 17% of a population of about 9.2 million for 2020.
Which body publishes the figure?
The State Comptroller of Israel, the state audit institution that reports to the Knesset, published it in its own audit rather than as a statistical series.
Does the Central Bureau of Statistics publish this count?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded Israel’s total population at 9,662,000 at the end of 2022 in Israel in Figures 2023, and no disability prevalence count from the Bureau is carried here.
Can the 17% be recalculated against a newer population figure?
No share of that kind is published. The State Comptroller calculated 17% against about 9.2 million for 2020, and applying the count to a later Bureau total gives a figure no body issued.
What is the 44,500 figure?
The State Comptroller’s 2024 audit counted about 44,500 adults with disabilities aged 18 to 40 eligible for services from the Ministry of Welfare, on that ministry’s own eligibility criteria.
How many of those eligible received the service?
The State Comptroller reported that about 41,000 people, 94% of the 44,500, did not systematically receive the service it examined.
Is there a breakdown by type of disability?
Neither audit publishes one for the wider population. The State Comptroller published type shares only within the group recognised as eligible and not served, about 530 people with intellectual developmental disability and about 820 with autism.
Is there a count by city or region?
The State Comptroller published caseload and spending shares by local authority, running 10% to 38% and 36% to 56% respectively, and no population count by authority.
How much of local welfare spending goes to disability services?
Across the authorities the State Comptroller examined, disability spending was 36% to 56% of total welfare spending, a range rather than a national figure.
Does the record show how disability services are delivered?
The State Comptroller’s 2024 audit reported the Ministry of Welfare’s own cost data comparing community housing at about NIS 1,700 a month with about NIS 13,000 for the alternative, set out in the cost comparison the audit relayed.
Do these audits count children with disabilities separately?
No separate child count appears in either audit. The 1.6 million is an all-ages count and the 44,500 covers ages 18 to 40.
Sources
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2024. Israel in Figures 2023. Selected Data From the Statistical Abstract of Israel. cbs.gov.il. Official statistical release.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2024. The Ministry of Welfare’s Treatment of Adults with Disabilities. Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs, English abstract. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official audit report.
- State Comptroller of Israel. Services Provided by Local Authorities to People with Disabilities, Centre against Periphery. Local government audit. mevaker.gov.il. Official audit report.
