Israel’s capital, Yerushalayim, is also the nation’s most populous city, with 924,800 residents, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics ahead of Yom Yerushalayim 2020.
One out of every 10 Israelis lives in Yerushalayim, and 560,000 of the city’s residents are Arabs, according to the report. Still, the city has suffered from negative population growth for years, and thus far 2020 has seen 8,400 residents move away.
Yerushalayim’s birth rate is higher than the national average, with the average number of children in Yerushalayim families standing at 3.9, compared to 3.09 elsewhere in Israel. The average Yerushalayim household has 3.84 members, compared to the national average of 3.24. Jewish women in Yerushalayim give birth to more children than Arab women in the city—4.41 children on average compared to 3.14.
The capital’s housing stock is limited, and home prices there are among the highest in the country. In 2019, the city saw only 2,452 housing starts, a drop of 16.6 percent compared to the previous year. The average cost of a three-bedroom apartment in the city is NIS 2.15 million ($612,000), compared to the average of NIS 1.83 million ($521,000) elsewhere.
Only 50 percent of adults in Yerushalayim are employed, a much lower number than the national average of 63.5 percent. However, Yerushalayim boasts one of the highest percentages of residents who work locally rather than commuting: 88.7 percent.
A total of 79,950 students are enrolled in Yerushalayim elementary schools, 53,000 of whom are in haredi frameworks, with another 14,200 in religious Zionist schools and only 12,700 in secular public schools.
The population of Yerushalayim is young, with a third (33.5 percent) of residents aged 0-14. In Haifa and Tel Aviv, the percentage of city residents age 14 and under stands at 19.9 percent and 18.5 percent, respectively.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
(JNS)
{Matzav.com}
