Today, President Rivlin received the 2020 Statistical Yearbook from the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research.

A press release detailed some selected statistics for 2019:

*Jerusalem is the largest Jewish city in Israel with 569,900 Jewish and other residents, and the largest Arab city in Israel with 349,600 Arab residents.

*For a second consecutive year, there is negative migration of -6000, the lowest level for a decade. Of those leaving the city, 46% have left for communities in the Jerusalem metropolitan area.

*The number of those moving to Jerusalem is the highest ever: 12,800 people.

*There is a wage differential of 20% between men and women in Jerusalem, as opposed to 33% nationally, 32% in Tel Aviv-Yafo and 35% in Haifa.

President Rivlin noted that:

Jerusalem is the largest ultra-Orthodox city, and also the city with the largest Arab population. Jerusalem is also ‘young demographically: the percentage of young people in Jerusalem is large, in part as a result of Arab and Ultra-orthodox growth in numbers. These young people are our future.

Jerusalem is a microcosm of our existence here, its population a representation of the demographic diversity of the state of Israel. We must find a way to create a conversation, to connect, to build partnerships. I thank the Jerusalem Institute staff for their dedicated work to depict our reality. Their ongoing and determined efforts to understand our reality and to make it accessible to the public are extremely important.