Despite being in the midst of a 17-month-long war with Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups, Israel has witnessed a significant rise in birthrates, Israeli media outlet Ynet reported on Wednesday.
According to Israel’s population authorities, approximately 181,000 babies were born in 2024, a 4.9% increase from the 172,500 births in 2023.
A monthly breakdown of the statistics reveals that births were concentrated between August and October last year. Notably, in September 2024, Israel recorded 15,968 births, a 7.3% increase compared to the same month in 2023.
Considering the typical pregnancy timeline, Ynet analyzed that most women who gave birth in September 2024 likely conceived between November 2023 and January 2024, immediately after the war broke out.
The report also noted that as of February 2025, the birthrate is still rising, with maternity wards nationwide filled. Some experts have even compared the trend to the “baby boom” seen in the United States after World War II.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing insurance authority data, also reported that 49,745 babies were born between September and November 2024, representing a 10.1% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
Shlomo Winker, an official at Leumit Healthcare, an Israeli medical company, noted that a surge in births following war is a standard international phenomenon, adding that a similar trend was observed after the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
However, he expressed surprise at the timing of this particular baby boom, stating, “Typically, birth surges occur after a war ends, not during the conflict itself.”
Israel generally has a higher birthrate than many other developed nations, partly due to the influence of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) communities, which tend to have larger families.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Israel’s total fertility rate (the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime) was approximately 2.9 in 2022, the highest among OECD member countries. The OECD average was 1.5, with South Korea recording the lowest rate at 0.7.