(Jerusalem Post) Paul Morland - The birth rates of Arabs and Jews in Israel are close to converging. In the first 12 years of this century the number of Arab births in Israel has flat-lined at 40,000 per annum. Over the same period, Jewish births have risen from 95,000 to 130,000. In the first four months of 2013, Jewish births were up 38% compared to the same period in 2001; Arab births were down 6%. The falling Arab fertility rate reflects well-documented trends elsewhere. Between the early 1960s and 2005-2010, the UN reports that the average woman in Egypt went from having 6.5 children to fewer than 3. In Lebanon, the fall was from 5.5 to 1.5. In Jordan and Syria, fertility rates declined from 8 and 7.5 to 3 and 3.5. The surprising factor has been the steady rise of fertility of Israel's Jewish women to around 3, a rate unprecedented for a developed country.
2013-07-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive