Jerusalem, 8 March, 2026 (TPS-IL) — For International Women’s Day 2026, observed today, Sunday, March 8, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reported that at the end of 2025, 5,086,364 women lived in Israel, of which 4,996,583 were Israeli citizens and 89,781 were foreign nationals living in the country.

Women made up about 50.4% of the total population (excluding foreigners); of which 31.1% were aged 17-24, 54.3% were 18-64, and 14.6% were 65 and over.

The fertility rate per woman in 2025 is estimated at 2.86 children per woman, similar to 2.87 in 2024.

Life expectancy in Israel in 2024 was 85.4 years for women and 81.1 years for men (including war casualties).

Women are expected to live 78% of their life years without a health problem that interferes with functioning, and men – 81%.

Work and salary

In 2025, the labor force participation rate among women aged 15 and over reached 59.9%, compared to 65.6% among men.

69.6% of all employed women usually worked full-time and 30.4% usually worked part-time.

The employment rate reached 78.4% among married mothers, and 80.3% among single parents.

In 2025, there were approximately 190,000 women in Israel who worked independently, 8.8% of all employed women.

Approximately 152,000 women worked in the high-Tech Sector in 2025 (34.9% of all those employed in the sector), compared to approximately 283,000 men.

Since 2020, among employees, a consistent trend of increasing gender wage gaps can be seen, for example, from a 16% gap in the average hourly wage in 2020 to 23.4% in 2023.

92% of employed women were satisfied with their jobs (similar to men), and 62% of women were satisfied with their income (71% of men).

Gil Tanenbaum

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