Muslims were biggest minority in Israel at end of 2009; birthrate stood at 3.7 children per woman, higher than in Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt.

At the end of 2009, the Muslim population in Israel was estimated to be 1,286,000 people, an increase of 32,000 people from the end of 2008, according to new figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Monday.

Among Israel’s Muslims, 264,000 thousand (20.5 percent) live in Jerusalem, constituting over a third (34.2%) of all of the capital’s residents, and making it the largest community of Muslims living in Israel.

The second largest Muslim community in Israel was Rahat, with 51,600 Muslim residents, followed by Nazareth with 49,600, and Umm el-Fahm with 46,000.

By the end of 2009, the fertility rate (defined as the average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime) among Israeli Muslims population stood at 3.7 children per woman, a decline from 4.7 children per woman in 2000, but still the highest  overall communal birthrate in Israel. The percentage also makes the birth rate among Israeli Muslims higher than those among Muslims in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.

The figures also show that the workforce participation among Muslims ages 15 and over in Israel in 2009 was 39.8%, 61% among men and 18% among women.

In terms of religiosity, 9% of Muslims define themselves as very religious, 51% as religious, 29% as not so religious, and 10% as not religious.

Regarding education, Muslim students in Israeli universities now account for 6.5% of all students in universities, compared to 3.1% in 1989. The figures show that Muslim university students in comparison to their Jewish counterparts are more likely to pursue studies in the medical fields and less likely to study engineering and architecture.