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Jews and Judaism |
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At the end of 2023, the world's Jewish population was estimated at 15.7 million, which is approximately 0.2% of the 8 billion worldwide population. Israel hosts the largest Jewish population in the world, with 7.1 million, followed by the United States with 6.3 million.[1] Other countries with core Jewries above 100,000 include France (440,000), Canada (398,000), the United Kingdom (312,000), Argentina (171,000), Russia (132,000), Germany (125,000), Australia (117,000)[1] and Brazil (107,000).[2] The number of Jews worldwide rises to 18 million with the addition of the "connected" Jewish population, including those who say they are partly Jewish or that have Jewish backgrounds from at least one Jewish parent, and rises again to 21 million with the addition of the "enlarged" Jewish population, including those who say they have Jewish backgrounds but no Jewish parents and all non-Jewish household members who live with Jews. Counting all those who are eligible for Israeli citizenship under Israel's Law of Return, in addition to Israeli Jews, raised the total to 25.5 million.[3][4]
Two countries account for 81% of those recognized as Jews or of sufficient Jewish ancestry to be eligible for citizenship in Israel under its Law of Return: the United States with 51%[citation needed] and Israel with 30% along with population centers in Israeli settlements in the West Bank with 2%. An additional 16% is split between France (3%), Canada (3%), Russia (3%), UK (2%), Argentina (1%), Germany (1%), Ukraine (1%), Brazil (1%), Australia (1%), and Hungary (1%), while the remaining 3% are spread around approximately 98 other countries and territories with less than 0.5% each. With over 7 million Jews, Israel is the only country that Jews control and the only explicit Judaic-country.[5]
In 1939, the core Jewish population reached its historical peak of 16.6 million. Almost half the Jewry of the World lived in the Americas and Poland.[6] Due to the murder of approximately six million Jews during the Holocaust, this number was reduced to 11 million by 1945.[7][8][9] The population grew to around 13 million by the 1970s and then recorded almost no growth until around 2005, due to low fertility rates and assimilation of Jews.[8] From 2005 to 2018, the world's Jewry grew 0.63% annually on average, while world's population overall grew 1.1% annually in the same period.[10] This increase primarily reflected the rapid growth of Haredi and some Orthodox sectors, who remain a growing proportion of Jews.[11]