Do Women in East Jerusalem Work? 85% Did Not, on the Comptroller’s Audit
Israel’s State Comptroller recorded 85% of East Jerusalem women not working in 2016, against 41% in west Jerusalem, and 64% of East Jerusalem men working.
85% of women in East Jerusalem did not work at all in 2016, on the State Comptroller of Israel’s own audit of social services for the Arab population of East Jerusalem, against 41% of women in the west of the city in the same audit. The Comptroller published 64% for men in East Jerusalem who worked. That audit is the figure Israeli official bodies carry on the question; the Central Bureau of Statistics publishes labour force participation for Jerusalem as a single city and does not split it between east and west.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85% | Women in East Jerusalem who did not work at all | State Comptroller of Israel | 2016 |
| 41% | Women in west Jerusalem who did not work at all | State Comptroller of Israel | 2016 |
| 64% | Men in East Jerusalem who worked | State Comptroller of Israel | As at the audit |
| 40% | Average monthly income per person in East Jerusalem, as a share of income per person among west Jerusalem residents | State Comptroller of Israel | As at the audit |
| 52.2% | Labour force participation, all Jerusalem residents, city as one unit | Central Bureau of Statistics | 2023 |
| 63.5% | Labour force participation, national average | Central Bureau of Statistics | 2023 |
| 39.3% | Labour force participation among Moslems aged 15 and over, across Israel | Central Bureau of Statistics | 2021 |
The Comptroller records 85% of East Jerusalem women not working in 2016
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded that 85% of women in East Jerusalem did not work at all in 2016, and set it beside 41% of women in the west of the city. This is the Comptroller’s own figure, published by Israel’s state audit institution from an audit of social services covering education, employment and income in the roughly 70 square kilometres annexed to the Jerusalem municipal boundary in 1967. It is a share of women who did not work, stated by the audit as such, and it is not a labour force participation rate of the kind the Central Bureau of Statistics publishes.
The same chapter carries the audit’s education figures for the same population, which are shares of a pupil population rather than of a workforce:
- About 90,000 pupils in East Jerusalem, of whom about 46% study in official schools held by the state or the municipality.
- About 42,500 pupils, about 47% of all East Jerusalem pupils, in schools that adopted the Israeli curriculum.
- About 92% of pupils in the recognised system, a subset of the roughly 90,000, study under the Palestinian Authority curriculum.
64% of East Jerusalem men worked, in the same Comptroller audit
The State Comptroller of Israel published 64% for men in East Jerusalem who worked, in the same audit chapter that carries the 85% for women, so the two figures share one document and one authoring body. The Comptroller also recorded that average monthly income per person in East Jerusalem stood at 40% of income per person among residents of west Jerusalem. Both are the state auditor’s own figures, and the income figure is a ratio of two averages rather than a poverty rate.
Jerusalem’s citywide participation was 52.2%, against 63.5% nationally
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded labour force participation of 52.2% in Jerusalem in 2023, against a national average of 63.5%, in its Jerusalem Day 2024 release. The Bureau publishes that figure for the city as one unit, and the release does not break it down between the east and the west of the city or by sex. The Bureau reported the city’s population at the end of 2023 as 60.5% Jews and Others and 39.5% Arabs, on preliminary data.
No Israeli body publishes an East Jerusalem women’s employment series
The State Comptroller of Israel published a single dated share for 2016 in its own audit of social services for the Arab population of East Jerusalem, and no year-on-year series alongside it. The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes participation for Jerusalem as one citywide figure. In its Labour Force Survey for April 2026 the Bureau recorded national participation of 62.0% and a national employment rate of 60.2%, seasonally adjusted, with no East Jerusalem breakdown. There is no Israeli official series here, and this page records that absence rather than filling it.
Which figures on this page may not be added or compared?
The Comptroller’s 85% counts women who did not work at all, published by Israel’s state auditor from its own audit, and it is not the complement of a participation rate: 85% not working may not be restated as 15% participation. The Bureau’s 52.2% is labour force participation for all Jerusalem residents aged 15 and over in 2023, both sexes and both halves of the city together. The Bureau’s 39.3% is labour force participation among Moslems aged 15 and over across Israel in 2021, published in its Eid al-Adha release, which also gives 362,000 Moslem residents of Jerusalem, 37.5% of the city’s residents at the end of 2021, on preliminary population data. Different measures, different universes and different years, and none of them may be subtracted from or divided into another.
Questions readers ask
What share of East Jerusalem women worked, on Israel’s official record?
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded that 85% of women in East Jerusalem did not work at all in 2016, in its own audit of social services for the Arab population of East Jerusalem.
What is the comparison figure for west Jerusalem?
The State Comptroller recorded 41% of women in the west of the city not working at all in 2016, in the same audit.
How many East Jerusalem men worked?
The State Comptroller published 64% of men in East Jerusalem as working, as at its audit.
Does the Central Bureau of Statistics publish an East Jerusalem participation rate?
The Central Bureau of Statistics publishes participation for Jerusalem as one city, and its Jerusalem Day 2024 release carries no east or west split and no split by sex.
What was Jerusalem’s participation rate?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 52.2% in Jerusalem in 2023, against a national average of 63.5%.
What is Israel’s current national participation rate?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 62.0% participation and a 60.2% employment rate for April 2026, seasonally adjusted, in its monthly Labour Force Survey.
Why is the unemployment rate not a share of the population?
The Central Bureau of Statistics reports unemployment as a share of the labour force, while participation and employment are shares of the population aged 15 and over.
Is there an Israeli income figure for East Jerusalem?
The State Comptroller recorded that average monthly income per person in East Jerusalem stood at 40% of income per person among west Jerusalem residents, as at its audit.
Does Israel publish a trend for East Jerusalem women’s employment?
No Israeli body cited here publishes one. The State Comptroller published a single dated share and the Central Bureau of Statistics publishes the city as one unit.
What is the national participation rate among Moslems?
The Central Bureau of Statistics recorded 39.3% among Moslems aged 15 and over across Israel in 2021, in its Eid al-Adha media release.
How many Moslems live in Jerusalem?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 362,000 Moslem residents of the city at the end of 2021, 37.5% of the city’s residents, on preliminary data.
Can the 85% be read as a participation rate?
No. The State Comptroller published it as the share of women who did not work at all, which is a different measure from the participation rate the Central Bureau of Statistics publishes.
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, 2024. Selected Data on the Occasion of Jerusalem Day, 2024. Media release. Official or primary record.
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2026. Labour Force Survey, monthly release, data for April 2026. Media Release 154/2026. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel. Social Services for the Arab Population of East Jerusalem. State Comptroller report, printed pp. 365 onward. Official or primary record.
