The fertility rate among Arab women in Israel has declined steadily in
the past five years, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Fertility
rate signifies the number of children a woman is expected to deliver
during the course of her life. The fertility rate among Israel's
Muslims was more than nine children in the 1960s. By 1985, it had
dropped to 4.7 children, and then remained at this level for the next
15 years. Over the past five years, the decline resumed, with the
fertility rate dropping 8 percent - from 4.74 children per Muslim woman
in 2000 to 4.36 in 2004. During the same period, the fertility rate for
Jewish women rose slightly, from 2.66 to 2.71.
Another
relevant figure is the number of births per thousand. Among the Jewish
population, the number of births per thousand rose from 18.7 in 2000 to
19.2 in 2004. In contrast, the number of births per thousand among the
Muslim population plummeted during the same period, from 37.5 to 33.2 -
a drop of 11 percent.
The number of Jewish births in Israel
rose from 92,000 in 2000 to 100,000 in 2004 - an increase of 9 percent.
Meanwhile, there were 36,000 Muslim births in 2000 and the same number
in 2004. The very next year brought a drop of 5 percent, to 34,000
Muslim births.
