As the year 5780 arrives, the number of Jews stands at about 14.8 million, compared with 14.7 million in 5779.
Of the entire world Jewish population, about 8.1 million live outside Israel (of whom about 5.7 million are in the U.S.), while in Israel the number of Jews is about 6.7 million (compared with about 6.6 in 5779), and more than 400,000 entitled to enter via the Law of Return (who are not listed as Jews in the Population Register).
These figures come from updated estimates by Professor Sergio Della-Pergola of the Hebrew University, published in the American Jewish Year Book (AJYB) for 2019.
These figures include all those who define themselves as Jews and who do not hold a different religious identity. The figures also show that the number of persons entitled to the Law of Return in the world is 23.6 million, 16.5 million of whom are outside the State of Israel.
Jewish Agency Chairman Yitzchak Herzog said, "Last year, with the Jewish Agency's assistance, tens of thousands of immigrants and tens of thousands of young Jews visited Israel in educational programs, including Masa. The Jewish Agency will continue to be a bridge between Israel and the Jewish communities. The main challenges facing the Jewish People in Israel and in the Diaspora, most notably the fight against anti-Semitism that culminated last year, along with continued efforts to connect young Jews from around the world to Israel in light of the boycott and delegitimization movements."
The Jewish population in other countries:
France 450,000;
Canada 392,000;
United Kingdom 292,000;
Argentina 180,000;
Russia 165,000;
Germany 118,000;
Australia 118,000;
Brazil 93,000;
South Africa 67,000;
Ukraine 48,000;
Hungary 47,000;
Mexico 40,000;
Netherlands 30,000;
Belgium 29,000;
Italy 27,000;
Switzerland 19,000;
Chile 18,000;
Uruguay 16,000;
Sweden 15,000;
Spain 12,000.
About 26,000 Jews live in Arab and Muslim countries, of which about 15,000 are in Turkey, about 8,500 in Iran, about 2,000 in Morocco, and about 1,000 in Tunisia.
Countries where the Jewish population numbers 500 or less are: Bermuda, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Curacao, Virgin Islands, Bolivia, Suriname, Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, Bosnia, Northern Macedonia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Congo, Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Syria, and Egypt.
The community awaiting immigration from Ethiopia numbers about 8,000 people. One hundred or more Jews live in 98 of the world's countries.
