Israel’s population is also being boosted by a decrease in emigration, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
By United With Israel Staff
During the first seven months of 2019, 20,506 new immigrants arrived in Israel, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics, reports the Globes business news outlet.
The figure marks a 21% increase over the 15,965 immigrants who came to Israel during the same period of time in 2018, says the report.
The newcomers are said to include the returning children of Israeli citizens living abroad and who already have Israeli citizenship.
Israel’s population is also being boosted by a decrease in emigration, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The annual emigration rate in 2017, the number of Israelis not returning from abroad for more than a year, fell to 14,300, the smallest number since 2010, says the Globes report.
“The increased level of immigration is due largely to a surge in the number of immigrants from Russia, a trend which began in 2018,” writes Arutz 7.
According to the Jewish Agency, there was a 45% increase in immigration from Russia in 2018, even as immigration from other Eastern European countries like Ukraine declined in 2018, said the news website.
“More than 10,500 immigrants from Russia moved to Israel in 2018,” it noted, adding that “immigration from Eastern Europe continued to increase in 2019, and by mid-year, it accounted for 74% of all immigration to Israel.”
Last month, says Arutz 7, Nefesh B’Nefesh, an NGO working to facilitate immigration from North America to Israel, brought its 60,000th immigrant to Israel.