Bnei Brak now has 157,725 residents compared to 154,554 in
5767 and 145,784 in 5764 according to Interior Ministry
figures provided by the Population Registry.
Avrohom Tannenbaum, secretary and spokesman for the City of
Bnei Brak, said that in contrast to various statistics and
research institutes, the most up-to-date and reliable figure
is from the Population Registry, which uses a software
program that provides constant updates on the number of
residents since only the Interior Ministry has correct
figures on the number of residents arriving and leaving and
born in every city, town and community. The Population
Registry figure was last updated on the 6th of Cheshvan (Oct.
18th).
Rabbi Tannenbaum added that the city's population is
gradually increasing despite the land shortage in Bnei Brak,
which was built 80 years ago and at the time was planned for
just 10,000 residents.
The age breakdown is as follows: ages 0 to 5 - 25,702; ages 6
to 12 - 25,930; ages 13 to 17 - 17,785; ages 18 to 21 -
12,924; ages 22 to 40 - 34,302; ages 41 to 60 - 25,929; over
60 - 15,153.
According to the Central Bureau for Statistics the average
Bnei Brak family consists of 4.2 people, the highest average
for large and medium-size cities in the country.
The municipality's Education Department also shows a rise of
hundreds of children enrolling for preschool and
kindergarten, saying that new classes have to be opened in
various parts of the city. The increase in the number of city
residents results from natural growth and migration from
other locations, along with numerous apartment purchases by
young couples in longstanding formerly non-religious
neighborhoods like Shikun Hei and Pardes Katz.
Mayor Rabbi Yissochor Frankenthal says he is pleased with the
constant population growth, noting that Bnei Brak is a magnet
for the chareidi public from around the country and a center
for outstanding yeshivas and educational institutions as well
as a growing, diversified center for employment and commerce.
He also noted its central geographic location in the Dan
Region.
