2013 saw a record number of births in Israel, data published over the weekend by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics showed.
The total number of births rose 0.2 percent to 171,207, compared to 170,904 in 2012. Jewish births increased 1.3 percent to 127,101, compared to 125,409 born in 2012. Some 5,000 babies were born to parents who immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return.
The year 2013 saw the number of births among Israeli Arabs drop from 40,433 in 2012 to 39,028-a decline of 3.5 percent. The Muslim Arab sector in particular saw a sharper drop-off of 5.5 percent, with 34,766 births compared to 36,766 in 2012. Arab Christian women gave birth to 2,602 babies, and Druze women had 2,350.
JNS.ORG
{Matzav.com Israel}
