The total population of Israel is estimated at 8.412 million residents, according to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics for the new year.

Since Rosh Hashana last year, the population grew by about 158,000 – a 1.9% spurt, similar to previous years.

The Jewish population stands at about 6.3 million residents, and makes up 74.9% of the total population. Arabs (including Muslim, Christian and Druze) number 1.746 million and compose 20.7% of the total population. Non-Arab Christians and people with no religion are at about 366,000, or 4.4% of the population

According to population forecasts, the Israeli population is expected to pass the 10 million mark by 2025 or 2030.

About 168,000 babies were born and 42,000 people died in the course of the year.

About 32,000 people were added to the population as a result of immigration – of these, 28,000 are considered “olim” (Jews who utilized their right of return to move to Israel). This is a spike of 35% over the previous year.

Most of the olim came from the Ukraine (26%), France (25%), Russia (21%) and the US (9%).