Jewish population

Jewish population refers to the number of Jews in the world. Precise figures are difficult to calculate because the definition of "Who is a Jew" is a source of controversy.


Total population


According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics there were 13,421,000 Jews worldwide in 2010 2009.
According to the estimates for 2007 of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, the world's Jewish population is 13.2 million.Adherents.com cites figures ranging from 12 to 18 million. These statistics incorporate both practicing Jews affiliated with synagogues and the Jewish community, and approximately 4.5 million unaffiliated and secular Jews.




Largest Jewish populations by country


Rank Country Jews % of Country % of all Jews
Top countries by Jewish population
1 Israel 5,703,700 75.5% 42.5%
2 United States 5,275,000 1.7% 39.3%
3 France 483,000 0.73% 3.6%
4 Canada 375,000 1.1% 2.8%
5 United Kingdom 292,000 0.5% 2.2%
6 Russia 205,000 0.1% 1.5%
7 Argentina 182,300 0.4% 1.4%
8 Germany 119,000 0.1% 0.9%
9 Australia 107,500 0.3% 0.8%
10 Brazil 105,600 0.1% 0.7%
11 Ukraine 71,500 0.02% 0.5%
12 South Africa 70,800 0.1% 0.5%
13 Hungary 48,600 0.5% 0.4%
14 Mexico 39,400 0.04% 0.3%
15 Belgium 30,300 0.28% 0.2%
16 Netherlands 30,000 0.02% 0.18%
17 Italy 28,400 0.04% 0.05%
18 Chile 20,500 0.2% 0.03%
19 Switzerland 17,600 0.1% 0.02%
19 Turkey 17,600 0.03% 0.02%
21 Uruguay 17,500 0.8% 0.02%
22 Belarus 16,500 0.1% 0.01%
23 Sweden 15,000 0.01% 0.001%
24 Venezuela 12,000 0.1% 0.002%
24 Spain 12,000 0.01% 0.002%
26 Iran 10,400 0.02% 0.003%
27 Romania 9,700 0.03% 0.004%
27 Latvia 9,700 0.02% 0.004%
29 Austria 9,000 0.01% 0.004%
30 Panama 8,000 0.004% 0.005%
31 New Zealand 7,500 0.1% 0.006%
32 Azerbaijan 6,400 0.003% 0.007%
32 Denmark 6,400 0.02% 0.007%




Current population estimates

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According to the World Jewish Population Survey of 2002, "The size of world Jewry at the beginning of 2002 is assessed at 13,296,100. One in about 457 people in the world is Jewish. According to the revised figures, between 2001 and 2002 the Jewish population grew by an estimated 44,000 people, or about 0.3 percent."
According to a 2002 study by the Jewish Agency, "the number of Jews in the world is declining at an average of 50,000 per year."
The World Jewish Population Survey gives the following geographical breakdown of the Jewish population:




Jewish Population 2002


Region Population Percent b
World 13,296,100 100.0


Americas, Total 6,476,300 48.7
North c 6,064,000 45.6
Central 52,500 0.4
South 500,000 2.7


Europe, Total 1,558,500 11.7
European Union 1,034,400 7.8
Other West 19,600 0.1
Former USSR d 410,000 3.1
Other East and Balkans d 94,500 0.7


Asia, Total 5,069,900 38.1
Israel h 5,025,000 37.8
Former USSR d 25,000 0.2
Other 19,900 0.1


Africa, Total 87,200 0.7
North e 7,400 0.1
South f 79,800 0.6


Oceania g 104,200 0.8
a January 1.
b Minor discrepancies due to rounding.
c U.S. and Canada.
d Asian regions of Russia and Turkey included in Europe.
e Including Ethiopia.
f South Africa, Zimbabwe, and other sub-Saharan countries.
g Australia, New Zealand.
h Including about 370,000 Jewish Israeli citizens living in the Israeli West Bank and Golan Heights.




Populations as a percentage


All estimates of population in this section are generated by taking the estimated percentage of Jews in each country, and multiplying it by the population of the country. Though figures given in the table may seem precise to many digits, they are often highly inaccurate, and can vary by significant margins from other published surveys. This data is intended to give rough estimates of the number of Jews in each country, more precise estimates for some countries are available above.
As an example, the tables below give the Jewish population of Argentina as 195,000 Jews in Argentina, but the best survey-based sources generally estimate the number of Jews in Argentina between 185,000 and 250,000. All the numbers below are similarly estimates, so the figures in the table below should be considered in the light of these variations, and should not be viewed as exact counts.
The percentage of Jewish population of each country was taken from the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2004, and, if not available on that site, from Jewish Population Tables. The total population of each country was taken from census.gov  (2005 estimates).
These numbers are for Jews as an ethnicity; many, but not all, practice the religion of Judaism.