Official statistics show 2.4% increase in Israel's Palestinian population

According to official data released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, the Palestinian population in territories occupied by Israel in 1948 rose by 2.4% from 2008 to 2009 while the number of Jewish settlers only rose by 1.7 % over the same period.

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The data published by the Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday (07.09.2010), revealed that the Israel’s population has risen to 7.6 million over the past year. This figure includes 1.56 million Palestinians who constitute 20.3% of the total population. The number of Palestinian Israelis did not exceed 1.5 million in 2008.

The results of these statistics show that the population within the 1948 territories is made up of 75.5% Jews, 20.5% Palestinians, and 4.2% Muslims. Forecasts by the Israeli Bureau of Statistics indicate a huge potential increase in the number of Palestinians within these territories such that by 2030, the Palestinian population is expected to increase to 2.4 million citizens and will constitute about a quarter of the total population.