More Foreign Workers Now in Israel Than Before Gaza War

Jerusalem, 5 August, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Since the outbreak of the Iron Swords War and the October 7, 2023 massacre, 86,500 new foreign workers entered Israel for work in various industries. Today, the number of foreign workers in all sectors is higher than their number before the war. This is according to data from the Foreign Workers Administration at the Population and Immigration Authority.

The construction industry leads in terms of new hires with 42,744 new employees, which constitutes about 50% of all new employees. It is followed by the nursing industry with 14,252 employees (17%) and the agriculture industry with 13,896 employees (16%).

In addition, under the leadership of the Foreign Workers Administration, a returnee outline was implemented in agriculture, resulting in the arrival of over 11,000 workers in the industry.

The leading countries of origin in the number of workers who have arrived since October 7 are:
India with 24,880 workers.
Sri Lanka with 15,284 workers.
Thailand with 14,423 workers.

The data indicate a significant effort promoted by the Population and Immigration Authority, led by the Foreign Workers Administration, to fill the labor shortage that arose after October 7, especially in the construction industry, which has been severely affected since the beginning of the war.