One Out of Every Five Jews in the World Is a Migrant

The wandering Jew is alive and well, according to a study published on Monday by the Pew Research Center on the migration habits of different religious groups.

The study found that one out of every five Jews in the world is a migrant – meaning that they currently live in a different country from where they were born – and that they account for a disproportionately large share of the global total.

The findings are based on figures updated to 2020, which means that they do not take into account the large exodus of Jews from both Ukraine and the Soviet Union since war erupted between the two countries in February 2022. Nor do they take into account the number of Jews who have left Israel since October 7, which is presumed to be relatively high even though official figures on the phenomenon have yet to be published. If anything, then, Jews have been wandering the globe at an even more intensive pace in the past few years.

According to the study, while Jews account for only 0.2 percent of the global population, they make up 1 percent of all international migrants, making them more likely than members of any other major religious group to be living outside their country of birth.

As of 2020, the study shows, 20 percent of Jews had moved outside their country of birth. That compares with 6 percent of Christians, 4 percent of Muslims, 2 percent of Buddhists, and 1 percent of Hindus.

The top destination by far for Jewish "wanderers" was Israel: A little more 50 percent of the world's 3 million Jewish migrants now live there. Following behind Israel are the United States (home to 14 percent of the world's Jewish migrants), the United Kingdom (4 percent of the total), and Australia, Russia, Germany and France (each with 3 percent of the total).

Israel and the United States have long been the most popular destinations for Jewish migrants and together have become home to nearly two-thirds of the world's Jewish migrants. In recent years, the report found, the United Kingdom and Germany have become top choices as well.

The United Kingdom moved up from ninth place in 1990 to third place in 2020, according to the survey, with the number of Jewish migrants living there tripling during this period from 40,000 to 120,000. Germany moved up from 10th place in 1990 to sixth place in 2020, with the number of Jewish migrants living there tripling as well from 30,000 to 90,000.

While France has seen many Jews coming, it has also seen many Jews going. Between 1990 and 2020, the number of Jewish migrants living in France grew from 50,000 to 80,000, while the number of French-born Jews living elsewhere grew from 40,000 to 70,000.

Of the roughly 1.5 million migrants who live in Israel (many of whom are not recognized as Jewish by the rabbinical authorities in the state but who are defined as Jewish in the study), the biggest groups come from Ukraine (170,000), Russia (150,000) and Morocco (160,000). The migrants from Morocco came largely in the 1950s and 1960s, while those from Russia and Ukraine have come much later, mainly starting in the 1990s.

Israel also tops the list of the countries of origin of the world's Jewish migrants: Roughly 9 percent (270,000) were born in the Jewish state. Following close behind are Russia and Ukraine (each with 8 percent), Morocco (7 percent) and the United States (5 percent). Taken together, the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union account for 28 percent of the world's Jewish migrants.

The Pew study was based on hundreds of national censuses, surveys and other data sources, among them the United Nations Population Division. It found that 280 million people – accounting for 3.6 percent of the global population – currently live outside their countries of birth. Among them, Christians account for the largest group (nearly half the total).

The following are some other notable trends in Jewish migration, according to the study:

* Roughly 400,000 Jews currently living in the United States were not born there. Israeli-born migrants account for the largest group among them – just over a quarter of the total (110,000). Another 50,000 were born in Russia, and a similar number in Canada.

* Noting that Jews tend to move from countries with shrinking Jewish populations to those with thriving Jewish communities, the study found that the most common relocation routes for Jewish migrants (in descending order) were Ukraine to Israel, Morocco to Israel, Russia to Israel, and Israel to the United States.

* The report also includes data on "foreign-born Jews" living in the West Bank settlements. It mostly includes Israelis who were born within the country's internationally recognized borders. According to the report, the number of these "Jewish migrants" to the West Bank has dropped dramatically from 80,000 three decades ago to 50,000 today. The suggests that the settlements have become a less attractive destination for most Israelis and that most of the Jewish population growth over the "Green Line" since 1990 derives from high birth rates among the West Bank settlers.

Yudy Maltz