Key facts

This page contains up-to-date key facts and statistics on Arab citizens of Israel 

Demographics:

1. Projections show that the Arab population will grow to 1,552,800 in 2010 (constituting 20.5% of the total population), to 1,931,000 by 2020 (20% of the total population) and 2,361,600 by 2030 (23.7% of the total population).[1]

Socio-Economics:

2. Socio-economic gaps between Jewish and Arab citizens in Israel have widened year-on-year since 2006 to the detriment of the Arab population.[2]

3. 50% of Arabs live in poverty compared to 20% of all Israelis.[3]

Employment:

4. Among Arabs aged 15 and over, 41% were employed in the civilian workforce in 2009 (380,600) compared to 59.6% among their Jewish counterparts (2,555,000).[4]

5. 21% of Arab women participate in the workforce compared to 57.9% of Jewish women.[5]

6. The lost potential to Israel’s economy as a result of the failure to utilise the potential of the Arab male and female workforce amounts to NIS 31 billion a year (based on 2006 data)[6].

7. Only 5.8% of all civil service employees are Arabs.[7]

8. The income of Arab wage earners is on average 61% of the amount earned by Jewish wage earners.[8] 

Education:

9. There is an average of 29 pupils in each class in Arab schools, compared to 24.6 in Jewish schools, whilst the number of Jewish two-year-olds attending pre-schools (39.8%) is five times that of Arab children (7.5%).[9] 

10. Jewish 24-30 year olds are three times more likely to go to university than Arabs of the same age group (9.9% compared to 3.3%).[10] 

11. 16% of Arab parents use private educational services, compared to 44% of Jewish parents.[11]

Welfare:

12. In 2007, the total per capita expenditure on welfare among Jews was NIS 527.6 compared to NIS 360 for Arabs.[12]

Health:

13. The infant mortality rate amongst Arabs is over twice that of Jews, 8 versus 3.2 per 1000 live births.  This rate is particularly high amongst Arabs living in the Negev, who suffer 13 per 1000 births.[13]

14. On average, in Israel, a Jewish man will live for 4 years longer than an Arab man.[14]