Jerusalem: Facts and Trends 2016

Population

In 2014 the population of Jerusalem numbered 849,800 residents, of whom 520,700 (61%) were Jewish, 303,400 (36%) were Muslim, 12,300 were Arab Christians (1%), 10,000 (1%) had no religious classification, and 3,300 were non-Arab Christians (0.4%). In areas added to the city after 1967 there were 521,900 residents in 2014, of whom 201,200 were Jewish, constituting 39% of all the residents of those areas and 39% of the city’s total Jewish population. A total of 301,600 Arabs resided in these areas, constituting 58% of all the residents in those areas and 99% of Jerusalem’s Arab population. During the course of 2014, Jerusalem’s population increased by 2.4% (19,900 persons). The Jewish population grew by 2.2% (11,600 persons), and the Arab population by 2.7% (8,300 persons). These data indicate that the Arab population growth is slightly greater than that of the Jewish population.

Construction

During the past decade, 2014 marked a record year in terms of new construction in Jerusalem. Following two years (2013-2014) in which there were 3,400-3,500 construction starts, in 2015 construction was initiated on 3,200 residential apartments. During 2015 construction was completed on 2,700 housing units. The increase in number of apartments completed reflects growing demand as well as efforts by planning authorities to promote faster construction of housing units.

Employment

In 2014 the rate of participation in the labor force for peak working ages (25-64) in Jerusalem was 66%, which is considerably lower than the rate for Israel (80%), Tel Aviv (90%), and Haifa (84%). Interestingly, the rate of participation in the labor force for Jewish women of peak working ages (78%) was higher than the rate for Jewish men (70%). By contrast, in Israel at large the rate of participation for Jewish women (83%) is slightly lower than the rate for Jewish men (87%).

The rate of participation in the labor force for Arab women of peak working age in Jerusalem is very low (18%), and significantly lower than the rate for Arab men (83%). In Israel at large, the rate of participation for Arab women (36%) is higher than the rate for Arab women in Jerusalem (18%). In Jerusalem the rate of participation in the labor force for Arab men is higher than the figure for Jewish men (83% and 70%, respectively) because of the low rate of participation among ultra-orthodox Jewish men. In Israel at large the situation is reversed, as the rate of participation for Arab men is lower than the rate of participation for Jewish men (80% and 87%, respectively).