- Every lover of Israel should have the basic numbers at their fingertips, so this special edition gathers them in one place, using the latest official figures available as of October 2026.
- People. Ahead of Rosh Hashanah 5787, the Central Bureau of Statistics counted 10.305 million residents: 7.828 million Jews and others, 2.173 million Arabs and 304,000 foreign residents. The population grew by about 124,000, or 1.2%, over the year, from just 806,000 in 1948. Births (about 182,000) outnumbered deaths (about 50,000) by more than three to one, and a fertility rate of nearly 2.9 children per woman is roughly double the OECD average of 1.4. About 3.5 million immigrants have arrived since 1948, and around 45% of the world's Jews now live in Israel.
- The economy. Israel's economy was worth about $611 billion in 2025, or roughly $60,000 per person, according to the World Bank. The IMF projects about $720 billion for 2026, which ranks Israel around 25th among the world's economies. Growth was about 3% in 2025; the first quarter of 2026 was hit by the war with Iran, and the second quarter rebounded by 3.5%.
- High-tech. The Israel Innovation Authority reports that high-tech made up 18.3% of GDP in 2025, 58% of exports (a record of about $85 billion) and 11.4% of employment, some 400,000 people. Startups raised about $14.6 billion that year, up 30%, and Israel spends around 6% of GDP on research and development, the highest share in the world.
- Where Israel leads. In cybersecurity, Israeli startups took about 46% of all global cyber funding in the third quarter of 2026. In water, roughly 80% of drinking water now comes from desalination and some 85–90% of wastewater is reclaimed. In health, life expectancy of 83.8 years is fourth in the OECD, on health spending of 7.6% of GDP against 11–12% in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
- Brains. Fourteen Nobel laureates are counted as Israeli (counts vary for dual nationals), the most recent being economist Joel Mokyr in 2025, a Hebrew University alumnus and Tel Aviv University visiting professor.
- From 806,000 people in 1948 to more than 10 million today, and a high-tech sector now exporting some $85 billion a year: the essentials make a good-news story all by themselves.
Sources: Central Bureau of Statistics (Independence Day and Rosh Hashanah 2026 releases, as reported by Times of Israel, Globes and JPost); World Bank; IMF; Israel Innovation Authority High-Tech Report 2026; OECD; CTech; US Dept of Commerce; Nobel Prize records.
