What Is Israel’s Poverty Rate? 20.7% of Israelis in 2024
20.7% of Israelis were poor in 2024, the National Insurance Institute reports, with 20.0% of families and 28% of children below the line.
20.7% of Israelis were poor in 2024, the National Insurance Institute reported in its 2024 Poverty Report, against 20.6% in 2023. That is about 2 million people. The Institute counts a person as poor when household net income per standard person falls below half the national median. Among families the 2024 rate was 20.0%, which is a separate measure on a separate base.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 20.7% | Share of individuals below the poverty line | 2024 (20.6% in 2023) |
| 20.0% | Share of families below the poverty line | 2024 (20.2% in 2023) |
| 28% | Share of children below the poverty line | 2024 (27.6% in 2023) |
| About 2 million | Poor individuals, including about 880,000 children | 2024 |
| NIS 3,547 | Monthly poverty line per standard person, half the median net income | 2024 |
| 31.5% | Share of individuals who would be poor on income before transfers and direct taxes | 2024 |
Source: National Insurance Institute, The National Insurance Institute 2024 Poverty Report, released in early 2026.
20.7% of Israelis were poor in 2024, the Institute reports
The National Insurance Institute puts the share of poor individuals at 20.7% in 2024, up from 20.6% in 2023. This is the Institute’s own measurement against a relative line at half the median income. The family rate moved the other way over the same year, and the two rates count different units.
- Individuals: 20.7% in 2024, against 20.6% in 2023.
- Families: 20.0% in 2024, against 20.2% in 2023.
- Poor individuals in total: about 2 million in 2024.
The individual rate counts people. The family rate counts households. They are published side by side and do not form one series.
About 880,000 children were poor, a 28% child poverty rate
About 880,000 children were poor in 2024, the National Insurance Institute reports, a child poverty rate of 28% against 27.6% in 2023. The 880,000 are part of the roughly 2 million poor Israelis, not in addition to them. The Institute states that Israel ranks second among OECD countries in child poverty, after Costa Rica.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| About 880,000 | Poor children, within the 2 million total | 2024 |
| 28% | Child poverty rate | 2024 |
| 27.6% | Child poverty rate | 2023 |
| About 2 million | All poor individuals, children included | 2024 |
Source: National Insurance Institute, 2024 Poverty Report.
The 2024 poverty line was NIS 3,547 per standard person
The National Insurance Institute set the 2024 poverty line at NIS 3,547 a month per standard person, up NIS 229 from NIS 3,318 in 2023, a nominal rise of 6.9%. The line is half the median net income per standard person, which the Institute put at NIS 7,095 in 2024. When median income rises, the line rises with it.
The line is drawn on an equivalence scale. NIS 3,547 is a per-standard-person unit, not the line for a person living alone. The line for a couple is not double it. Median net household income per standard person is a different measure from Israel’s average wage.
| Household | Monthly poverty line | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Per standard person | NIS 3,547 | 2024 |
| Couple | NIS 7,095 | 2024 |
| Couple with three children | NIS 13,303 | 2024 |
| Per standard person | NIS 3,318 | 2023 |
Source: National Insurance Institute, 2024 Poverty Report.
Without government intervention, poverty would have reached 31.5%
The National Insurance Institute estimated that 31.5% of individuals and 34.5% of families would have been poor in 2024 without government intervention. This is the Institute’s own calculation. It uses household income before transfers and direct taxes. After intervention, the published rates were 20.7% of individuals and 20.0% of families.
The higher figures are counterfactual rates on pre-transfer income. They are not rates recorded in any year. Each pair sits on its own base: individuals against individuals, and families against families.
Arab family poverty stood at 37.6%, Haredi at 32.8%
The National Insurance Institute reported that poverty among Arab families fell from 38.1% in 2023 to 37.6% in 2024. Among Haredi families it fell from 33.0% to 32.8%. These are family rates on the Institute’s own measurement. They belong beside the national family rate of 20.0%, not beside the individual rate of 20.7%.
By district, the National Insurance Institute recorded family poverty above the national average in three districts in 2024.
| District | Family poverty | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem | 36.5% | 2024 |
| South | 22.3% | 2024 |
| North | 21.6% | 2024 |
Source: National Insurance Institute, 2024 Poverty Report.
The release places the Tel Aviv and Central districts below the national average and prints no rate for either. Two further figures in the release use different measures:
- About 158,700 elderly people were poor in 2024. This is a count of persons, not a rate.
- 28.1% of Israelis lived in food insecurity for economic reasons in 2024. Food insecurity is a separate measure from the poverty rate.
Every figure here is the Institute’s own measurement
- Every figure comes from the National Insurance Institute 2024 Poverty Report, the official poverty measurement, released in early 2026.
- The line is relative: half the median net income per standard person, on the Institute’s own equivalence scale.
- 20.7% is a rate among individuals, 20.0% among families and 28% among children. The Arab, Haredi and district rates are family rates. Do not average these rates or chain them into one series.
- The 880,000 poor children are inside the 2 million total. The 31.5% and 34.5% are counterfactuals, and the 28.1% food-insecurity share is not a poverty rate.
Questions readers ask
How is a person counted as poor in Israel?
The National Insurance Institute counts a person as poor when household net income per standard person is below half the national median. In 2024 that line was NIS 3,547 a month per standard person.
How many Israelis live in poverty?
The National Insurance Institute reported about 2 million poor Israelis in 2024. About 880,000 of them were children.
Did poverty rise in 2024?
The National Insurance Institute recorded 20.7% of individuals as poor in 2024, against 20.6% in 2023. The family rate was 20.0% in 2024, against 20.2% in 2023.
How does Israel’s child poverty compare with other OECD countries?
The National Insurance Institute states that Israel ranks second among OECD countries in child poverty, after Costa Rica. The Institute put the child poverty rate at 28% in 2024.
What is the poverty line for a family with three children?
The National Insurance Institute published a 2024 line of NIS 13,303 a month for a couple with three children. For a couple, the line was NIS 7,095.
Why did the poverty line go up in 2024?
The National Insurance Institute sets the line at half the median net income per standard person, and put that median at NIS 7,095 in 2024. The line rose with it, from NIS 3,318 to NIS 3,547.
Is NIS 3,547 what a single person needs to avoid poverty?
No. The National Insurance Institute states the line per standard person, on an equivalence scale. It is not the line for a person living alone.
How many elderly Israelis are poor?
The National Insurance Institute counted about 158,700 elderly people as poor in 2024.
What is the poverty rate among Arab families?
The National Insurance Institute reported 37.6% of Arab families as poor in 2024, against 38.1% in 2023.
What is the poverty rate among Haredi families?
The National Insurance Institute recorded 32.8% of Haredi families as poor in 2024, against 33.0% in 2023.
What is the poverty rate in the Jerusalem district?
The National Insurance Institute recorded family poverty of 36.5% in the Jerusalem district in 2024. The national family rate was 20.0%.
How much do benefits and taxes reduce poverty?
The National Insurance Institute estimated that 31.5% of individuals would have been poor in 2024 without government intervention. After intervention, the rate was 20.7%. For families, the corresponding rates were 34.5% and 20.0%.
How many Israelis face food insecurity?
The National Insurance Institute reported that 28.1% of Israelis lived in food insecurity for economic reasons in 2024. This is a separate measure from the poverty rate.
Is there an official poverty rate for 2025?
The National Insurance Institute published its 2024 Poverty Report in early 2026, covering 2024. That release carries no 2025 rate.
Sources
- National Insurance Institute, 2026. The National Insurance Institute 2024 Poverty Report. Press release, National Insurance Institute of Israel. https://www.btl.gov.il/English%20Homepage/About/PressReleases/Pages/dohoni2024.aspx. Official or primary record.
