What Is Israel’s Fertility Rate? 2.87 Children per Woman in 2024
Israel’s total fertility rate was 2.87 children per woman in 2024 on Central Bureau of Statistics figures: 3.07 for Jewish women, 2.74 for Muslim women.
Israel’s total fertility rate was 2.87 children per woman in 2024, on the Central Bureau of Statistics’ figures in the Statistical Abstract of Israel 2025. The rate was 2.85 in 2023 and 2.89 in 2022. Jewish women averaged 3.07 children and Muslim women 2.74 in 2024. The Bureau calculates the 2024 rates on a population base that excludes foreign residents.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 2.87 | Total fertility rate, children per woman, all women in Israel | 2024 |
| 2.85 | Total fertility rate, on a provisional population base | 2023 |
| 2.89 | Total fertility rate, average number of children per woman | 2022 |
| 2.90 | Arithmetic mean of the five annual rates | 2020 to 2024 |
| 3.07 | Total fertility rate of Jewish women, by religion | 2024 |
| 2.74 | Total fertility rate of Muslim women, by religion | 2024 |
| 2.59 | Total fertility rate of the Arab population group | 2024 |
| 30.6 | Average age of a mother at birth; 27.9 at first birth | 2024 |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2025, Tables 2.28 and 2.29. The 2022 rate is from the Bureau’s Israel in Figures 2023.
Israel’s total fertility rate was 2.87 children per woman in 2024
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded a rate of 2.87 children per woman in 2024, built from that year’s age-specific rates for women in Israel. The same figure appears in both Table 2.28 and Table 2.29 of the Statistical Abstract. The rate sits inside the Bureau’s wider count of Israel’s population, with foreign residents left out of the 2024 base.
| Measure | Rate | Publication |
|---|---|---|
| Total fertility rate, 2022 | 2.89 | Israel in Figures 2023 |
| Total fertility rate, 2023 | 2.85 | Statistical Abstract 2025 |
| Total fertility rate, 2024 | 2.87 | Statistical Abstract 2025 |
| Mean of annual rates, 2015 to 2019 | 3.08 | Statistical Abstract 2025 |
| Mean of annual rates, 2020 to 2024 | 2.90 | Statistical Abstract 2025 |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics. The five-year figures are averages of annual rates, not rates for the period.
The Bureau’s Israel in Figures 2023 counts 181,193 live newborns in 2022. In 2024 a mother’s average age at birth was 30.6, and 27.9 at a first birth.
Jewish women averaged 3.07 children, Muslim women 2.74, in 2024
The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes the 2024 rate two ways: by religion and by population group. By religion, Jewish women averaged 3.07 children and Muslim women 2.74. By population group, Jews and others averaged 2.94 and Arabs 2.59.
The two classifications do not line up row for row. The Arab population group combines Muslims, Arab Christians and Druze, so its 2.59 is a rate for three religious groups together. The like-for-like comparison with Jewish women’s 3.07 is Muslim women’s 2.74, both on the religion classification.
| Classification | Group | Rate, 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Religion | Jewish women | 3.07 |
| Religion | Muslim women | 2.74 |
| Population group | Jews and others | 2.94 |
| Population group | Arabs | 2.59 |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2025.
Muslim fertility fell from 9.23 in 1960 to 1964 to 2.74
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded a rate of 9.23 children per Muslim woman in 1960 to 1964 and 2.74 in 2024. Jewish women’s rate was 3.39 in 1960 to 1964, fell to 2.62 in the 1990s and stood at 3.07 in 2024.
For the national rate, the Bureau puts the mean of annual rates at 3.08 for 2015 to 2019 and 2.90 for 2020 to 2024.
- Jewish women: 3.39 in 1960 to 1964, 2.62 in the 1990s, 3.07 in 2024.
- Muslim women: 9.23 in 1960 to 1964, 2.74 in 2024.
- Druze women: a peak of 7.92 in 1964, 2.00 in 2021 and 1.85 in 2022, in the Bureau’s Nabi Shu’ayb Festival 2024 release.
The Judea and Samaria Area’s Israeli localities recorded 4.54 in 2024
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded the highest district rate in 2024 in the Judea and Samaria Area, at 4.54 children per woman. That row covers Israeli localities only. Haifa District had the lowest rate, at 2.22.
| District | Rate, 2024 | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Judea and Samaria Area, Israeli localities | 4.54 | Highest |
| Jerusalem District | 3.89 | Above the national 2.87 |
| Southern District | 3.34 | Above the national 2.87 |
| Haifa District | 2.22 | Lowest |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2025.
The Bureau tables used here give no rate by religiosity
The Central Bureau of Statistics’ Tables 2.28 and 2.29 publish no fertility rate by level of religious observance. They give no figure for Haredi, religious, traditional or secular women, and no comparison with other countries. The Haredi population has no row of its own in either table.
The two tables break the 2024 rate down by:
- Religion of the mother.
- Population group.
- Continent of birth.
- District.
- Age of the mother.
They do not break it down by:
- Level of religious observance.
- Country, for any international comparison.
Five-year figures are averages of annual rates
- The Central Bureau of Statistics states that its five-year figures are arithmetic means of annual rates, not a rate for the period.
- The 2024 rates rest on average population updated after the 2022 Census and exclude the foreign population. The 2023 rate used a provisional population, so the step from 2.85 to 2.87 joins two bases.
- Rates by religion and rates by population group are separate classifications. The 2.59 for Arabs and the 2.74 for Muslim women describe different groups.
- The Judea and Samaria Area row covers Israeli localities only.
- Natural increase per 1,000 residents is a different measure from children per woman, and the two are not set against each other.
Questions readers ask
What does a total fertility rate measure?
The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes it as the average number of children per woman, built from the year’s age-specific fertility rates. The 2024 total of 2.87 equals five times the sum of the Bureau’s printed age-specific rates.
How old are mothers in Israel when they give birth?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded an average age of 30.6 for a mother at birth in 2024. The average age at a first birth was 27.9.
How many babies were born in Israel in 2022?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 181,193 live newborns in 2022, in Israel in Figures 2023. The total fertility rate that year was 2.89.
Has Israel’s fertility rate fallen since the 2010s?
The Central Bureau of Statistics puts the mean of annual rates at 3.08 for 2015 to 2019 and 2.90 for 2020 to 2024. The annual rate was 2.87 in 2024.
What is the Druze fertility rate in Israel?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 1.66 children per Druze woman in 2024, in the Statistical Abstract of Israel 2025. Its Nabi Shu’ayb Festival 2024 release put the rate at 1.85 in 2022.
What is the Christian fertility rate in Israel?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 1.61 children per Christian woman in 2024. Arab Christian women averaged 1.48.
What was the rate for women not classified by religion?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 1.14 children per woman in 2024 for women not classified by religion. It is the lowest rate in the Bureau’s religion breakdown.
What was the Jewish fertility rate in the 1990s?
The Central Bureau of Statistics records a Jewish women’s rate of 2.62 in the 1990s. The rate was 3.39 in 1960 to 1964 and 3.07 in 2024.
Why is the Arab rate 2.59 when the Muslim rate is 2.74?
The Central Bureau of Statistics reports the 2.59 for the Arab population group, which combines Muslims, Arab Christians and Druze. The 2.74 is Muslim women alone, on the religion classification.
Which Israeli district has the lowest fertility rate?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded the lowest district rate in Haifa District, at 2.22 children per woman in 2024. The national rate was 2.87.
Do foreign residents count in Israel’s fertility rate?
The Central Bureau of Statistics states that from 2024 its fertility rates exclude the foreign population. The 2023 rate rested on a provisional population.
Is natural increase the same as the fertility rate?
The Central Bureau of Statistics measures natural increase as live births minus deaths per 1,000 residents, and recorded a national rate of 13.9 per 1,000 in 2020. It is not a count of children per woman.
Does the rate for Judea and Samaria cover the whole area?
The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes the 4.54 for 2024 for the Area’s Israeli localities only. The row does not cover the Area’s whole population.
Does the Bureau publish a Haredi fertility rate?
The Central Bureau of Statistics’ Tables 2.28 and 2.29 publish no rate for Haredi women or by level of religious observance. They break fertility down by religion, population group, continent of birth, district and age.
Sources
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2022. Local Authorities in Israel 2020: Introduction, Comparative Tables. Publication 1879, Table D, Rate of natural increase per 1,000 residents, 2020. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2022/local_authorities20_1879/h_print.pdf. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2024. Israel in Figures 2023: Selected Data From the Statistical Abstract of Israel. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/isr_in_n/isr_in_n23e.pdf. 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. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2024/124/11_24_124e.pdf. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2025. Statistical Abstract of Israel 2025, Tables 2.28 and 2.29: Fertility Rates, by Age and Religion; and Fertility Rates, Average Age of Mother and Sex Ratio at Birth, by Selected Characteristics of the Mother, 2024. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2025/2.shnatonpopulation/st02_28.pdf and https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/DocLib/2025/2.ShnatonPopulation/st02_29x.pdf. Official or primary record.
