At the end of 2018, the juvenile population of Israel, aged 0-17, numbered 2,960 million, representing 33% of the entire population, according to a report released this past Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics in honor of the International Children's Day. 2,131 million of this figure are Jewish children (72%), 731,000 are Arab children and another 98,000, or 3.3% were categorized separately, partly as non-Arab Christians or simply not listed according to religion in the population census. The Arabs' fertility is falling fairly rapidly.
According to the figures, 39% of the residents in Jerusalem are children and youths up to the age of 18, as compared to Haifa where this age group is only 23% of the population. In Tel Aviv, only 21% of the population is under 18, or stated otherwise, only one in five residents is a child.
The official survey showed that in a household with children, the number averages 2.43 children on an overall national level. In Beit Shemesh, the average is higher at 3.67 children per family; in Bnei Brak it is 3.5 and in Jerusalem, 2.99. The lowest figure of children up to 18 was Tel Aviv with 1.87 per family.
More than half of the children in Israel live in the center of the country: 689.8 thousand. 382.6 thousand in Tel Aviv and 455.9 in Jerusalem. Up north, the figure is 471,000. Haifa has 296,000 children while down south, there are 459,300 children. In Judea-Samaria, which boasts the highest rate of children, 48%, there are 205,200 children. The lowest rate is in Tel Aviv, with 26.4%
The statistics further show that Modi'in Illit has the highest urban yishuv rate of children with 63.9% of the overall population is under eighteen. Next in line is Beitar, with 60.6% is under that age, Mevo Choron with 60.5%, Alei Zahav has 59.4%, Elad with 57.8% and Bachura with 56%.
The two settlements with the lowest child rate are interestingly not far from the sea: they are Bat Yam and Kiryat Yam, with a juvenile population of 21%. Tel Aviv parallels this with 21.1% and Ramat Gan with 22.4%. Yishuvim with less than 25% of the residents being children are Nesher, Kiryat Motzkin, Haifa, Bnei Ayish, Ariel and Nof Hagalil.
