The world Jewish population is declining rapidly and may be reduced to a total of six million within one generation, according to a report of a demographic study presented to the World Zionist Organization Executive Monday. Diaspora Jewry is dwindling due to intermarriage and a low birthrate, the study found. The Jewish population of Israel is growing slowly because of immigration and a slightly higher birthrate. The birthrate among Jews worldwide is only 1.5 children per family In Israel it is 2.8 children per family.
But on a global basis this is not enough to sustain equilibrium, the study said. It noted that the Holocaust reduced the number of Jews in the world from 16.5 million before World War II to 10.4 million after the war. By the end of 1985 the world Jewish population was down to 9.5 million.
The study projects a Jewish population of nine million by 1990, eight million in the year 2000 and six million by 2025, less than the population of large cities today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
