From among 5.59 million residents of Israel (ages 20 and older, which is the age of the population we always refer to in this column), only 1.84 million live in the same place where they were born. The remainder (3.75 million people) have moved to where they currently live – either from a different part of the country (3.13 million), or from abroad, or from an unknown location. The preceding statistics emerge from the Social Survey undertaken by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) for 2018.
The districts where we find many migrants who moved from other localities in the country (including from within the same district), are Israel’s larger districts – The Central District (in which 70% of the residents are migrants), Tel Aviv District (where 68% are migrants), and The West Bank (where the figure is 87%). These are the districts which attract a lot of migration.
The better part of the migrants in all the districts, except for in The West Bank, come from other areas within the same district (while most of those who moved to The West Bank – 46% – came from Jerusalem). Among the other districts, most of the movement was between adjacent districts – from north of Haifa and the other way, from the center to Tel Aviv and the other way, and from the center to the south. Among the migrants who currently live in the Jerusalem district, 34% moved there from other places within the district; 21% from the Tel Aviv district; and 14% from The West Bank.
Reasons for moving are numerous and complex, and at the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research we often examine them. The Social Survey reveals that the most common explanation for moving from one apartment to another in Israel is related to family issues, such as marriage or the birth of a child, with 39% of the migrants stating those as their principal reasons. Other explanations provided as the main reason for moving were the desire to improve quality of life (26%) and the desire to live in an apartment of one’s own (10%).
Prominent explanations for moving to Jerusalem as opposed to moving to other parts of Israel were family reasons (44% of those who moved); the desire to live in an apartment of one’s own (11%); and studies (10% as opposed to 3% among all migrants in Israel). A conspicuous reason for moving to the center was the desire to improve quality of life, while prominent reasons for moving to the Tel Aviv district were employment and studies.
Are you planning to remain in your current place of residence for the coming five years? This question was answered in the affirmative by 83% of Israeli residents ages 20 and older. In Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Rishon Lezion the percentages were higher (88%, 85%, and 86% respectively), and in Haifa, Petah Tikva and Ashdod they were lower (76%, 81%, and 81% respectively).
Translation: Gilah Kahn-Hoffmann
