The world Jewish population is estimated at 14,236,420, according to the American Jewish Year Book, whose 1972 edition has just been published. There are approximately 6,060,000 Jews in the United States, more than in any other country. These estimates were compiled by Leon Shapiro, Associate Professor of Russian-Jewish History at Rutgers University, who compiled the overseas demographic data, and Alvin Chenkin, Supervisor, Statistics Unit, Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, who assembled the figures on the U.S.
After the United States, countries with the largest Jewish populations are: Soviet Union, 2,644,000; Israel, 2,632,000 (it is estimated that 42,000 immigrants entered Israel this past year); France, 550,000; Argentina, 500,000; Great Britain, 410,000; and Canada, 300,000. Half of world Jewry is located in North, Central and South America, 29 percent in Europe, 19 percent in Asia, 1.5 percent in Africa, and 0.5 percent in Australia and New Zealand.
In the United States, the Jewish population has shown an annual growth rate of 1.07 percent over the past three years. “This figure is comparable to the annual growth rate of the total resident population of the United States from 1968 to 1971,” Chenkin states, and “the proportion of the total resident population estimated to be Jewish remained at 2.94 percent.”
In Europe, according to Prof. Shapiro, there are more than 4,000,000 Jews, including 2,850,000 in the Communist area. Of these, 2,644,000 are in the Soviet Union, Figures for other European countries include: Austria, 9000; Belgium, 40,500; Bulgaria, 7000; Czechoslovakia, 14,000; Denmark, 6000; France, 550,000; Germany, 32,000; Great Britain, 410,000; Greece, 6500; Hungary, 80,000; Ireland, 5400; Italy, 35,000; Netherlands, 30,000; Poland, 8000; Rumania, 100,000; Spain, 9000; Sweden, 15,000; Switzerland, 20,000; Turkey 37,000; and Yugoslavia, 7000.
Estimated population for major centers of Jewish concentration in the Americas, besides the United States, include: Canada, 300,000; Mexico, 35,000; Argentina, 500,000; Brazil, 150,000; Chile, 32,000; Colombia, 10,000; Peru. 5300; Uruguay, 50,000, and Venezuela, 12,000. In Asia, the only major centers of Jewish population, besides Israel, are India, 14,500; and Iran, 80,000. In Africa, there are substantial Jewish numbers only in South Africa, 117,990; Morocco, 35,000; Ethiopia, 12,000; Tunisia, 8000; and Rhodesia, 5200. There are 72,000 Jews in Australia and 5000 in New Zealand.
The American Jewish Year Book is published jointly by the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Publication Society of America. Its editors are Morris Fine and Milton Himmelfarb. Mrs. Martha Jelenko is the Executive Editor.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
