Ahead of Jerusalem Day, which this year celebrates 57 years since the city was reunified in the 1967 Six-Day War, the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research has published its 38th annual report on the city, which provides an in-depth statistical look at the capital.

With a population of 1,005,900 in 2022, Jerusalem's population is double the size of Tel Aviv's, according to the latest population census figures.

Construction in Jerusalem also hit a new high in 2023, with work beginning on 5,800 new housing units – the largest number to date. In 2023, the labor force participation rate among Arab women in the city continued rising as well, reaching 29%.

While 7,600 new immigrants chose Jerusalem as their first destination in Israel in 2022, continuing an upward trend, the city's overall migration balance remained negative at -7,200 compared to -6,600 the previous year when factoring in those leaving.

The top destinations for those migrating out of Jerusalem were Beit Shemesh (18%), Bnei Brak (4%), Givat Ze'ev (4%), Tel Aviv-Yafo (6%), Modi'in (3%), Beitar Illit (3%), Modi'in Illit (2%), Ma'ale Adumim (2%) and Kochav Ya'akov (1%).

On the education and tourism fronts, Jerusalem led the country with 41,300 students at its institutions of higher learning in the 2022/23 academic year and 2,735,400 foreign tourist overnight stays in 2023.

Public transportation use too was up 13% in 2023 compared to the year before, with light rail ridership increasing 20%.

The report additionally detailed the impacts of the Swords of Iron war, including 13,800 evacuees absorbed in Jerusalem's hotels and homes.

Moreover, there was a spike in jobseekers to 26,000 in November 2023 – double the number prior to the war – before recovering, and an 80% drop in tourist overnight stays in the final quarter of the year.

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The population of Jerusalem is approaching 1 million, a review published by the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research ahead of Jerusalem Day, showed.

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On Tuesday, JIPS researchers presented President Reuven Rivlin with a statistical review of the capital for 2021, which showed that Jerusalem continues to be the largest city in Israel. At the end of 2020, the capital's population comprised 952,000 residents.

The average age in Jerusalem, 24, was much lower compared to the national average, 30. In Tel Aviv, the average age was 36, in Haifa, 38.

At the same time, the Jewish population in the capital is statistically older than the Arab one. In 2019, the average Jewish resident was 26 years old and the Arab resident was 22.

According to JIPS data, Jerusalem experienced a negative net migration last year, with 8,200 residents having left the city. Most of those who move to and from Jerusalem are Jews.

By March, the capital reported 130,200 coronavirus cases, or 139 cases per 1,000 residents, a number much higher than the national average, 91.2, but lower than the average in other ultra-Orthodox cities, like Beit Shemesh, 162.

The number of vaccinated stood at 355,300 or 570.3 per 1,000 residents, lower than the national average of 729, but higher compared to other Haredi cities.

According to data, Jerusalem is the second-largest economy in Israel, after Tel Aviv. Some 344,300 Jerusalemites are employed, which is 9% of all those employed in the country. The high-tech industry, in particular, has grown exponentially since 2015. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem had the most PhD students in the country.

"The statistical yearbook contains important information pertaining to all of Jerusalem's strata, all its neighborhoods. East and west, old and new, religious and secular, Jewish and Arab," Rivlin said.

"Jerusalem's future is also the future of the State of Israel. It is here, in the city that comprises the full range of Israel's demography in all its richness, that we need to find a way to create a dialogue, to connect, to cooperate," he added.

"The year of COVID-19 and recent events demonstrate just how much Israel's capital is a multi-faceted and multi-varied city," JIPS Director-General Lior Schiller said.

"Developments and events in Jerusalem have political significance and make an impact throughout the entire country.  In many respects the developments and trends in the city are a prelude to what will transpire throughout Israel in the coming decades. In this sense Jerusalem is Israel's 'national laboratory."

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Jews are almost five times less likely to begin construction in east Jerusalem than in the capital's west, a report commissioned by Israel Hayom ahead of Jerusalem Day and conducted by the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research reveals.

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According to data, construction on 1,310 residential buildings began by Jews in east Jerusalem within the last three years, compared to 5,016 in west Jerusalem.

In 2018, 797 Jewish building starts were recorded in eastern Jerusalem, compared to 1,430 in the west. In 2019, 335 building starts were recorded in the city's east compared to 2,031 in its west. Last year saw 178 projects break ground compared to 1,555, respectively.

The report offers two possible explanations for the striking contrast. First, despite the government denying it, political pressure exerted by Europe and the United States limits Jewish construction in east Jerusalem. Second, there is a relatively small amount of land available for construction in that part of the capital to begin with, which is also partially the result of the political restrictions. 

The annual demand for residential units for Jews in all of Jerusalem is 5,000, of which only 2,100 are supplied, leaving many Jerusalemites no option but to move elsewhere. 

Yair Assaf-Shapira, head of Data Analysis and Services at the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, is of the opinion that Jerusalemites moving to the suburbs of the capital is not necessarily a bad thing. 

"Jerusalemites who move to Gush Etzion, Mevasseret [Zion], Maale Adumim and Beit Shemesh stay connected to the city. In many respects, Jerusalem is still the center of their lives," he said. 

The demographic issue can be set aside, not only because these cities are close to the capital, but also because of the high birth rate among Jewish women, 4.4 children, compared to 3.1 for Arab women, Shapiro explained.

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