Jerusalem, Israel (April 14, 2026)

The global Jewish population has climbed to 15.8 million, according to new figures released in Israel ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, bringing the worldwide total closer to the level recorded before World War II while also underscoring the enduring demographic impact of the Holocaust. The new estimate places about 7.2 million Jews in Israel, roughly 45% of the global total, and about 6.3 million in the United States, or about 40%.

The report shows that the Jewish population worldwide has still not fully returned to its prewar level. In 1939, on the eve of World War II, the global Jewish population stood at 16.6 million, with only 449,000 living in what is now Israel. By 1948, around the time of Israel’s founding, that figure had fallen to 11.5 million, including 650,000 in Israel. The latest numbers reflect continued long-term growth since 2020, when the global Jewish population was estimated at 15.2 million.

At the same time, the number of Holocaust survivors and victims of antisemitic persecution living in Israel continues to decline. Current estimates place that population at about 111,000, down sharply from about 165,000 in 2021. Women account for 63% of that group, while men make up 37%, reflecting both the age of the survivor population and broader life expectancy trends.

The figures also trace the major immigration waves that reshaped Israel after the Holocaust. About 6% of survivors now living in Israel arrived between 1933 and 1947, while 30.2% came in the first years after statehood from 1948 to 1951. Another 30.2% immigrated between 1952 and 1989, and 33.6% arrived from the 1990s onward, largely during the major immigration wave from the former Soviet Union.

Taken together, the new data capture two parallel realities: the steady rebuilding of Jewish life worldwide and the rapid fading of the last living generation with direct ties to the Holocaust. As Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, the numbers serve as both a measure of recovery and a reminder of the losses that still shape Jewish life today.

Kein Yirbu!