Israel's population shows steady growth

JERUSALEM, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Heading into 2010, Israel's population stands at 7.5 million, continuing the yearly 1.8 percent increase seen for the last seven years, officials said.

There have been 160,000 new births and 14,500 new immigrants since the first of the year, The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

Ethnically, Jews make up 75.4 percent of the population, with 20.3 percent Arabs. The Interior Ministry lists the remaining 4.3 percent as "others," the newspaper said.

A report by the Central Bureau of Statistics said Israel is a young nation with 30 percent of the population younger than 14, compared to 17 percent in other Western countries, it reported.

Only 9.7 percent are older than 65, less than the average 15 percent in most Western countries.

The average Jewish family size increased from 2008, 2.96 children per household up from 2.8. Among the Muslim population, the figure dropped to 3.84 from 2008's 3.97, the report said.