Thousands of runners take part in the 2018 Jerusalem Marathon on March 9, 2018. Photo: Yonatan Sindel / Flash90.

JNS.org – The global Jewish population remained lower in 2020 than it was on the eve of the Second World War, according to statistics released on Monday by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.

At the close of 2020, the world Jewish population stood at 15.2 million, compared to 16.6 million in 1939, according to the CBS.

The report was released ahead of Israel’s Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day, which will be marked this year on Thursday.

On the other hand, the figures indicated astronomical growth in the percentage of Jews who reside in Israel, up from 3 percent in 1939 to 45 percent in 2020— marking the largest Jewish population in the world.

The global Jewish population in 1948 was 11.5 million, of whom only 650,00 (6 percent) resided in Israel, according to the figures.

At the end of 2021, the number of recognized Holocaust survivors living in Israel was about 165,000.

Out of the current Jewish global population, 6.9 million live in Israel and 6 million live in the United States. Some 445,000 live in France, 393,000 in Canada and 292,000 in the United Kingdom, according to the figures. Around 175,000 Jews live in Argentina, 150,000 in Russia, 118,000 in Germany and 118,000 live in Australia.

In Israel, out of a Jewish population of 6.9 million, 5.4 million were born in the country and 1.5 million were born abroad. Of those who immigrated, 1 million were born in Europe or North America, 284,400 were born in Africa, and 153,700 were born in Asia, according to the CBS.