BY GREG TEPPER
According to a February report published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the nation's northern Arab population now stands at 53%.
Although the birth rate among Muslim women from the 1980s through 2000 remained stable, that of Druze women declined. As of 2008, the fertility rate of Muslim women had dropped by 0.9 children per woman. As of the same year, Muslim women had an average of 3.8 children each, Christian women 2.2 children per household, and Jewish women 2.5 children per person.
As of 2008, Israel's Arab population stood at approximately 1.5 million people, making up nearly 20% of the overall population.
Since 1950, Israel's Muslim population, as a portion of the overall Arab population of the country, has grown by 13 percentage points – bringing it to a total of 83%. The Bureauforesees a further increase to a total of 86% for the year 2030. The nation's Druzepopulation dropped by 2 percentage points of the Arab population since 1950, with a further decrease of one point predicted for 2030, while Christians are losing thepopulation race with a dramatic drop from 21% of the total Arab population in 1950 to only 8% in 2008, and a projected 7% for 2030.
Overall the Arab population in Israel dropped from an average of 3.4% for the years of 1996 to 2000, to 2.6% for 2008. In comparison Egypt's growth rate is 2.2%, with Jordan's at 2.4%.
Due to the relatively high birthrates of Israel's Arab women, youth constitute a large part of its population. The median age of Israel's Arabs is 20, with the median age of itsMuslim contingent 19, its Druze component 24 and Christians holding at 30.
The median age of the nation's Jewish population is 31.
Arab women, as opposed to their Jewish counterparts, have a larger pool of potential husbands. For every 1,000 Arab women there are 1,035 Arab men. For every 1,000 Jewish women, however, there are only 970 Jewish men.
The Jerusalem Post
