Founded in 1948 as a restored homeland for the Jewish people and a refuge from persecution, Israel is organized under a constitution that guarantees freedom of religion. Yet Israeli politics and culture are also designed to ensure the country’s status as a Jewish state. For Catholics, the land is tied to the central events of Christian revelation, including the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, which makes Israel an especially compelling and complicated place to live.
The Catholic population today includes Palestinian, Hebrew-speaking, and migrant worker and refugee communities. Read more...
National Demographics
Religious Affiliation
Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010
Total Population
8,452,841 1
Urban
92.40% 1
Rural
7.60% 1
Immigrants as % of Population
24.9% 2
Homicides
1.36 per 100,000 people (global median 6.9) 3
Level of Public Corruption
28 (1=lowest, 176=highest corruption) 4
Gender Equality in the Economy, Health, Education and Politics
49 (1=most equal, 144=least equal) 7
Fertility Rate
3.01 births per adult woman 5
Children Who Do Not Live to Age 5
0.40% 5
Life Expectancy at Birth
83 years 5
Internet Users
71% 5
Gross National Income per Capita
US$35,320 5
Catholic Demographics
These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.
Baptized Catholics
316,000
Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population
3.43
Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)
915
Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)
5
First Communions per Year
1,234
Confirmations per Year
883
Students Enrolled in Catholic Primary Schools
19,026
Students Enrolled in Catholic Secondary Schools
17,412
Students Enrolled in Catholic Higher Education
3,666
Church Marriages per Year
405
Church Marriages in Which Both Spouses are Catholics
1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition.
2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 revision.
3 United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Homicide Statistics 2015.
4 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.