Hananya Naftali
Global Jewish Population
The Short Answer
About 15.8 million Jews live in the world today, according to estimates published by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics in 2026. That is roughly 0.2 percent of the world's population. Israel and the United States are home to the two largest communities, and Israel now holds about 46 percent of all the world's Jews.
Where the World's Jews Live
Israel has the largest Jewish population in the world, with more than seven million Jews. The United States follows with around six million, depending on how Jewish identity is counted. France, Canada, the United Kingdom and Argentina have the next largest communities.
Demographer Sergio DellaPergola projects that Israel could be home to a majority of the world's Jews as early as 2035, for the first time in about two thousand years. Read more: Population of Israel
Still Recovering From the Holocaust
Before World War II there were about 16.6 million Jews in the world. The Holocaust murdered six million, and more than eighty years later the Jewish people have still not returned to their prewar numbers.
Key Facts
About 15.8 million Jews live in the world.
Jews are about 0.2 percent of humanity.
Israel holds about 46 percent of world Jewry.
There were about 16.6 million Jews before the Holocaust.