Middle East Monitor / May 27, 2022
The city of Jerusalem is witnessing a decrease in the Jewish population in recent years, according to statistics published to mark Jerusalem Day by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.
As of 2020, 61 per cent of Jerusalem’s residents are Jewish while the remaining are Palestinian Muslims and Christians.
In addition to this, about 25 per cent of the country’s ultra-Orthodox population live in Jerusalem.
The report, based on figures from the Israeli National Bureau of Statistics, also notes a rise in the Palestinian population, which now constitutes 39 per cent of the city’s population.
The poverty rate in Jerusalem continues to be high as the report reveals 58 per cent of children lived below the poverty line in 2020.
However, the gap in terms of poverty between Palestinians and Jewish residents is particularly notable: some 32 per cent of Jewish residents in Jerusalem live below the poverty line, while the number almost doubles to 61 per cent within the Palestinian population.
Among the ultra-Orthodox population in Jerusalem, 45 per cent live below the poverty line, higher than the average throughout Israel – 41 per cent.
