Immigration to Israel up Five Percent

Immigration to Israel rose five percent over last year, with Russians leading the list, according to figures published by the Jewish Agency on Sunday.

More than 29,600 people immigrated to Israel from around the world in 2018, compared to 28,220 in 2017.

The country with the largest number of immigrants to Israel in 2018 was Russia, with more than 10,500 immigrants, representing a 45-percent increase from last year. Also, within the former Soviet Union, more than 6,500 people emigrated from Ukraine, a 9-percent decrease from 2017.

A total of 3,550 individuals immigrated to Israel from the U.S. and Canada, similar to last year’s figure, according to data coordinated with Nefesh B’Nefesh.

As many as 2,660 came from France, a 25-percent decline, despite ongoing security concerns in the French Jewish community. Elsewhere, more than 660 immigrants came from Brazil and over 330 arrived from the United Kingdom, both decreases of 4 percent. The more than 330 new immigrants from Argentina in 2018 marked a 17-percent rise from last year, and the over 320 from South Africa represented a 2-percent increase.

The Jewish Agency stressed that the figures released on Sunday comprise the official statistics during 2018 through the end of November, as well as the temporary data through December, in addition to estimates of the expected arrival of more immigrants in the remaining days of this month.