The population of persons aged 65 and over was about 1,093,500 – 606,000 women and 487,000 men. About 40% of the persons aged 65 and over were over the age of 75.
The aging of the Israeli population continues gradually; at the establishment of the State (1948), senior citizens constituted only 4% of the population, in 2019 – 12.0%, and this percentage is expected to rise to approximately 14% in 2040 (approximately 2 million persons).
Of the population of Jews and Others aged 65 and over, 31% were born in Israel and 4% are persons who were born in Israel, whose fathers were also born in Israel. That is, the older population of Israel is composed mostly of persons born abroad.
Approximately 60% of the senior citizens were married and about one-quarter of them were widows or widowers. Of the men, 77% were married and 10% were widows. Fewer than half of the women (47%) were married and more than one-third (35%) were widows.
Approximately 25,000 of those aged 65 and over lived in a household with an additional person who is not their relative (usually a caregiver). This was 1.7 times as many persons as a decade ago, compared to an increase of 1.4 times in the overall number of persons aged 65 and over.
Life expectancy at age 65 is gradually trending upward. Since 2000, it has increased by 2.9 years for men and by 3.2 years for women.
The death rate of persons aged 70 and over during the first months of the year was lower than or similar to previous years. However, since July and particularly in August, it was higher. The percentage of persons dying from the Coronavirus out of total deaths at these ages increased over the months and in August was more than 10%.
In 2018/19, 222 students aged 65 and over received degrees or certificates from institutions of higher education in Israel (similar to 227 in the previous year).
In 2019, 22.2% of persons aged 65 and over participated in the labour force (30.5% among men and 15.4% among women).
Persons aged 65 and over killed in road accidents comprised 19% of all persons killed in road accidents in 2019, compared to 25% in 2018.
In 2018, total gross money income of households of persons aged 65 and over averaged NIS 16,192: the source of 41.3% of the income was work, 24.9% was pensions and provident funds, 25.4% was allowances and assistance, and the remainder was capital (8.4%).
National expenditure on welfare (including transfers to households, pensions, and allowances) totalled NIS 168.4 billion in 2017. Total funding for senior citizens was NIS 86.5 billion – 51.4% of the total funding.
The percentage of Israeli residents aged 65 and over who were convicted out of those who were judged was 88.6%, higher than the percentage convicted out of all Israeli residents who were judged (84.5%).
In 2018/19, there were 122,794 active athletes in Israel, of whom 5.0% (6,185 athletes) were aged 65 and over.
