As church bells ring out across Nazareth, Haifa, and Jerusalem this Christmas Eve, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics has released its annual portrait of the country's Christian population – a community of approximately 184,200 people, comprising 1.9% of the nation.
The release follows CBS's established practice of publishing demographic data on religious communities ahead of their major festivals. The bureau similarly releases data on Israel's Muslim population before Eid al-Adha, on the Druze community ahead of the Nabi Shu'ayb Festival, and comprehensive population figures before Rosh Hashanah.
The figures, published Wednesday, show a community that grew by 0.7% in 2024 – modest growth that reflects broader demographic trends among Israel's Christians.
Where Christians call home
The community is predominantly Arab Christian, with 78.7% identifying as such. They account for 6.8% of Israel's Arab population.
Geography tells its own story. More than two-thirds of Arab Christians – 68.3% – live in the Northern District, with another 14.7% in the Haifa District. Non-Arab Christians show a different pattern, with 42.0% residing in Tel Aviv and the Central Districts.
Nazareth leads the way with 18,900 Christian residents, followed by Haifa (18,800), Jerusalem (13,400), and Nof HaGalil (10,800). For a city synonymous with Christmas, Nazareth's position atop the list carries a certain poetry.
A community profile
Christian households in Israel tend to be smaller than their Jewish and Muslim counterparts. The average Christian-headed household contains 2.89 persons, compared to 3.02 for Jewish households and 4.35 for Muslim households.
The fertility rate tells a similar story. Christian women have an average of 1.61 children, with Arab Christian women averaging 1.48 – lower than both Jewish and Muslim rates.
Christians also marry later than other religious groups. In 2023, 691 Christian couples wed in Israel, with grooms averaging 30.8 years old and brides 27.8 years old. Both figures exceed the averages for other religions.
Educational achievement
Perhaps the most striking figures emerge from the education data.
A remarkable 87.7% of Christian 12th-grade students were eligible for a matriculation certificate in 2023/24 – a figure that stands out in any comparative analysis.
The pipeline to higher education is equally robust. Within eight years of finishing high school, 52.6% of Arab Christians pursue a first degree, compared with 34.4% of Arab education graduates overall and 47.3% of Hebrew education graduates. For non-Arab Christians, the figure is 30.3%.
Some 6,700 Christian students attended higher education institutions in 2024/25, representing 2.2% of all students despite Christians comprising 1.9% of the population. Women make up 61.1% of these students.
One quirk in the data: Christian students account for one-fifth of all students pursuing a first degree in Musicology.
In the workforce
Labor force participation among Christians aged 15 and over stands at 67.7%, with a notably narrow gender gap – 69.9% for men and 66.0% for women.
Among Arab Christians specifically, participation is 56.9%, with men at 66.5% and women at 52.6%.
Welfare and support
Approximately 16,500 Christians – a rate of 91.4 per 1,000 persons – were registered with the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs in 2024. Approximately 27,000 Christians are listed in the Register of Persons with Disabilities.
Crime and justice
The CBS data included figures on criminal convictions, which showed a rate of approximately 176 convictions per 100,000 persons among Israel's Christian population in 2023.
One notable finding: the conviction rate among non-Arab Christians was substantially higher than among Arab Christians – roughly 253 versus 153 per 100,000 persons, respectively. The disparity likely reflects the diverse composition of Israel's non-Arab Christian population, which includes immigrants from various backgrounds.
The most common offenses among convicted Christians were bodily harm and property offenses, each accounting for 23.0% of convictions, followed by offenses against public order at 22.6%.
The statistics paint a picture of a small but established community, one marked by high educational attainment, strong female workforce participation, and demographic patterns that mirror trends seen in Christian communities across the developed world.
For the 184,200 Christians celebrating Christmas in Israel this week, the holiday carries a particular resonance. This is, after all, where it all began – from the Galilee hills where Jesus walked to the Bethlehem manger just a short distance away. Two millennia later, the community is alive and well.