Israel nears 8 million population

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JERUSALEM, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said the country's population is nearing the 8 million mark as Israel prepares to celebrate the Jewish New Year.

A report released by the bureau indicates Israel's population stands at 7,993,200 with slightly more than 75 percent of its citizens identified as Jewish, The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

The country's largest non-Jewish citizens are Arabs accounting for 20.6 percent of the population.

The Central Bureau of Statistics said 318,000 residents or 4 percent are non-Jews who have one Jewish grandparent and non-Arab Christians.

Various sectors of the population have been growing at different rates, the report said. The Jewish population increased at a rate of 1.8 percent in 2011 while the Arab population increased 2.4 percent.

The Jewish growth rate has remained steady in recent years but the Arab growth rate has declined since the late 1990s when it averaged 3.4 percent a year, the report said.

All in all, Israel remains a relatively young country compared to other Western nations. Twenty-eight percent of Israelis are 14-years-old or younger.