On eve of Jewish New Year 5770: Israel's population 7.46m

For the sixth consecutive year, the annual growth rate of the population was 1.8% with the Jewish population growing by 1.7%
 
The Central Bureau of Statistics reported last week in its 2009 Statistical Abstract that Israel's population on the eve of the Jewish New Year 5770 total 7,465,500.
 
This population figure includes 5,634,300 Jews (75.5%), 1,513,200 Arabs (20.3%) and 318,000 "others" (4.2%).
 
Israel's population is relatively young. Children aged 0-14 comprise 28.4% of the population compared with an average of 17% in other Western countries. Only 9.7% of Israelis are over 65, compared with 15% in other Western countries.
 
For the sixth consecutive year, the annual growth rate of the population was 1.8% with the Jewish population growing by 1.7% and the Arab population growing by 2.6%.
 
In 2008 the percentage of the population of Israel who were born in the country increased to 3.9 million (70.7% of the Jewish population).