the world's core Jewish population (those identifying as Jews to the exclusion of all else) was estimated at 16.5 million, which is 0.2% of the 8.28 billion worldwide population. However, the "core Jewish" criterion faces criticism, especially in debates over the American Jewish population count, since it excludes the growing number of people who carry multiple ethnic and religious identities who may self-identify as Jews or qualify as Jewish under the Halakhic principle of matrilineal descent. Israel and the United States host the largest Jewish populations of 7.76 million and 6.30 million respectively. Other countries with core Jewish populations above 100,000 include France (438,500), Canada (398,000), the United Kingdom (312,000), Argentina (171,000), Russia (132,000), Germany (125,000), and Australia (117,200). In 1939, the core Jewish population reached its historical peak of 16.6 million or more. Due to the murder of almost six million Jews during the Holocaust, this number was reduced to 11 million by 1945. The core Jewish population grew to around 13 million by the 1970s and then recorded almost no growth until around 2005, due to low fertility rates and interfaith marriage by Jews. From 2005 to 2018, the world's core Jewish population grew 0.63% annually on average, while the world's population overall grew 1.1% annually in the same period. This increase primarily reflects rapid growth of Haredi and Orthodox populations.

Trends Israel and Palestine Recent Jewish population dynamics are characterized by a continued steady increase in the Israeli population and flat or declining numbers in countries outside the Holy Land (the diaspora). Aliyah to Palestine began in earnest following the 1839 Tanzimat reforms; between 1840 and 1880, the Jewish population in Palestine rose from 9,000 to 23,000. In the late 19th century, 99.7% of the world's Jews lived outside the region, with Jews representing 2–5% of the Palestinian population.The estimated 24,000 Jews in Palestine in 1882 represented just 0.3% of the world's Jewish population: see On, Raphael R. Bar. "ISRAEL'S NEXT CENSUS OF POPULATION AS A SOURCE OF DATA ON JEWS." Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעי היהדות ה (1969): 31*-41*. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23524099. Through the phases of Aliyah, the Jewish population rose to 630,000 by the establishment of Israel in 1948. By 2014 this had risen to 6,135,000, while the population of the diaspora had dropped from 10.5 to 8.1 million over the same period. Current demographics of Israel are characterized by a relatively high fertility rate of 3 children per woman and a stable age distribution. The overall growth rate of Jews in Israel is 1.7% annually. The diaspora countries, by contrast, have low Jewish birth rates, an increasingly elderly age composition, and a negative balance of people leaving Judaism versus converting to Judaism. Immigration trends also favor Israel ahead of diaspora countries. The Jewish state has a positive immigration balance (called aliyah in Hebrew). Israel saw its Jewish numbers significantly buoyed by a million-strong wave of Aliyah from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s,Post-Soviet Aliyah and Jewish Demographic Transformation - Mark Tolts. and immigration growth has been steady (in the low tens of thousands) since then.

Rest of the world In general, the modern English-speaking world has seen an increase in its share of the diaspora since the Holocaust and the foundation of Israel, while historic diaspora Jewish populations in Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East have significantly declined or disappeared. France continues to be home to the world's third largest Jewish community, at around 438,500, but has shown an increasingly negative trend. As a long-term trend, intermarriage has reduced its "core" Jewish population and increased its "connected" and "enlarged" Jewish populations. More recently migration loss to Israel amongst French Jews reached the tens of thousands between 2014 and 2017 following a wave of antisemitic attacks.

Roughly 85% of the global Jewish population of 16,570,000 is concentrated in two countries: Israel and the United States, which are the only nations with Jewish populations exceeding one million. Jews constitute 0.2% of the world's population. Outside of these two primary countries, the nations with the largest Jewish populations, in descending order, are France (438,500), Canada (350,000), the United Kingdom (300,000), Argentina (170,000), and Russia (120,000). Even though Jewish birth rates are similar to the global average, the overall population has grown more slowly because it is older on average. By 2010, about one in three Jews worldwide was aged 50 or above, giving Jews the largest proportion of older adults among major religious groups.

Jewish communities are highly concentrated geographically: 96% live in the ten countries with the largest Jewish populations, totaling 15.73 million people. About 830,500 Jews live elsewhere in the world. Today, roughly 27,000 Jews reside in Muslim-majority countries, mainly in Turkey (14,200), Iran (9,100), and Azerbaijan (5,000). In the Arab world, the biggest Jewish populations are found in Morocco (2,000), Tunisia (1,000), and the United Arab Emirates (500). Regionally, the Jewish population increased in the Middle East and North Africa (up 18% to nearly 7 million), and grew slightly in Asia-Pacific (2%) and North America (1%). It declined in sub-Saharan Africa (down 37% to 50,000), Latin America–Caribbean (down 12% to 390,000), and Europe (down 8% to 1.3 million). Despite these shifts, Jews remained a small and generally stable share of regional populations.

Debate over American numbers The number of Jews in the United States has been much debated because of differences in counting methodology resulting in recurring discrepancies of a million or more people in reports. These methodology differences are detailed by Pew Research Center in a 2020 study which estimated there were 5.8 million adult Jews in the United States and 1.8 million children of at least one Jewish parent being raised as Jewish in some way, for a total of 7.5 million Jews, 2.5% of the national population. However, Pew noted that Hebrew University demographer Sergio Della Pergola, reviewing the same data and applying a narrower definition that counts children and adult Jews without religious affiliation only if they have two Jewish parents, determined that there were 4.8 million Jewish adults and 1.2 million Jewish children in the U.S. for a total of 6 million Jews, 2% of the national population. These numbers can be further complicated by applying the matrilineal descent principle from Halakha, with Pew noting that while only 4.8 million of the 5.8 million adults classified as Jews reported having a Jewish mother, a further 1.3 million adults classified as non-Jews of Jewish background reported that they did have a Jewish mother.

By country

Below is a list of Jewish populations in the world by country. All data below, except for the National official population, are from the annual World Jewish Population (2020) report coordinated by demographer Sergio Della Pergola at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as part of the American Jewish Year Book. The figures are primarily based on national censuses combined with trend analysis. Della Pergola reports figures for the four following definitions: Core Jewish population refers to those who consider themselves Jews to the exclusion of all else. Connected Jewish population includes the core Jewish population and additionally those who say they are partly Jewish or that have a Jewish background from at least one Jewish parent. Enlarged Jewish population includes the Jewish connected population and those who say they have a Jewish background but not a Jewish parent, and all non-Jews living in households with Jews. Eligible Jewish population includes all those eligible for immigration to Israel under its Law of Return. Where available, the list additionally contains official statistics reported by individual nations and year of latest report as National official population.

Core, connected and enlarged population

CountriesCore populationConnected populationEnlarged population Total Total Total scope=row 729,090 754,238 779,386 17,320 24,309 30,386 scope=row 9,400 8,483 10,026 scope=row 6,910 8,483 10,026 scope=row 10,500 12,023 14,695 4,370 4,939 5,537 scope=row 3,990 5,779 6,891 scope=row 1,060 2,188 3,146 scope=row 4,660 5,134 5,726 scope=row 1,420 1,805 2,708 scope=row 440 574 717 scope=row 320 360 400 scope=row 890 1,106 1,276 scope=row 4,830 7,675 10,233 scope=row 1,070 2,140 3,329 scope=row 1,250 1,563 2,188 scope=row 2,530 3,053 3,490 scope=row 450 560 676 scope=row 2,160 2,569 2,919 scope=row 4,800 5,685 6,822 scope=row 840 1,050 1,260 scope=row 61.9 1,947 123.8 scope=row 1,460 1,947 2,433 scope=row 180 234 259 scope=row 280 345 409 scope=row 1,160 1,577 1,915 scope=row 2,370 2,607 2,844 scope=row 110 122 139 scope=row 460 672 879 scope=row 900 1,800 2,647 scope=row 1,510 1,711 1,913 scope=row 720 1,050 1,550 scope=row 1,100 1,289 1,461 scope=row scope=row 210 350 420 scope=row scope=row 2,350 4,178 6,267 scope=row 120 187 267 scope=row 380 482 556 scope=row 370 474 617 scope=row 296 334 382 scope=row scope=row 90 186 248 550 733 1,019 scope=row 480 665 849 scope=row 140 269 364 scope=row 490 549 608 scope=row 860 1,684 2,688 scope=row 40 53 67 scope=row 60 71 80 scope=row 290 580 870 scope=row 540 1,080 2,132 scope=row 1,430 2,032 2,634 scope=row 60 76 95 scope=row 420 593 766 scope=row 380 760 1,267 scope=row 490 653 817 scope=row 200 300 400 scope=row 240 295 351 scope=row 240 295 369 scope=row 150 177 218 scope=row 90 108 126 scope=row 10 12 14 scope=row 50 67 83 scope=row 160 178 213 scope=row 22,860 25,718 28,575 scope=row 1,130 1,453 1,776 scope=row 30 40 50 scope=row 40 56 72 scope=row 140 224 308 scope=row 40 80 120 3,810 5,715 6,668 scope=row 180 108 144 scope=row 60 105 150 1,250 1,563 2,188 scope=row 10 17 23 scope=row 240 320 400 scope=row 510 1,275 1,785 scope=row 330 660 990 scope=row scope=row 30 60 90 scope=row 10 20 30 scope=row 30 90 150 1,540 3,080 4,620 scope=row 40 80 120 scope=row 350 700 1,050 scope=row 10 20 30 scope=row scope=row 20 40 60 scope=row scope=row scope=row 200 400 600 scope=row 40 80 120 50 100 150 scope=row scope=row scope=row 50 100 150 scope=row scope=row scope=row 15,277,300 100 1,920 18,591,750 100 2,341 21,532,950 100 2,727

Eligible population and national official