On the eve of Christmas 2021, approximately 182,000 Christians live in Israel; they comprise about 1.9% of the State of Israel's population. The Christian population grew by 1.4% in 2020.
76.7% of the Christians in Israel are Arab Christians. They constitute 7.0% of the total Arab population of Israel.
Most of the Arab Christians reside in the Northern District (70.3%) and in the Haifa District (13.5%).
41.7% of the non-Arab Christians reside in the Tel Aviv and Central Districts, as compared to 34.2% in the Northern and Haifa Districts.
The localities with the largest Arab Christian populations are Nazareth (21,400), Haifa (16,500), Jerusalem (12,900), and Shefar'am (10,400), as of the end of 2020.
803 Christian couples married in Israel in 2019. The average age at the first marriage of Christian grooms was 30.3, and that of Christian brides was 26.7.
In 2020, 2,497 infants were born to Christian women, about 72% of whom (1,797 infants) were born to Arab Christian women.
The average number of children up to age 17 in Christian families with children up to this age is 1.93. Of these Christian families, the average number of children up to age 17 in Arab Christian families is 2.04 – smaller than the numbers in Jewish families (2.43) and in Moslem families (2.60).
In the 2020/21 school year, 27,044 Christian students – 1.4% of the total number of students – attended primary and secondary schools.
81.6% of Christian 12th-grade students were eligible for a matriculation certificate.
53.1% of the Arab Christians continued their studies toward a first degree within eight years of graduating high school, compared to only 35.4% of the total number of high-school graduates in the Arab school system and 47.2% in the Hebrew education.
The proportion of women among the Christian students was higher than women's proportion among the total number of students in all degrees and particularly in the advanced degrees: 64.1% and 53.2%, respectively, of those studying for a third degree, and 72.9% and 63.8%, respectively, of those studying for a second degree.
Compared with Arab-Moslem students, the percentage of Christian-Arab students studying for a first degree (bachelor's degree) was lower in the following fields of study: Business and management sciences, Languages, literature and regional studies, as well as Paramedical studies. In contrast, the percentage of those who studied Engineering and architecture, Art, crafts and applied arts, as well as Medicine was higher.
Of all students who were studying for a first degree, representation among the Christian students was highest in the following subjects of study:[3] musicology (15.1%), management information systems (12.4%), and transportation engineering (11.2%).
The percentage of participation in the labour force in 2020 among Christians aged 15 and over was 64.6% (68.2% of men and 61.9% of women). This figure was 53.7% among Christian Arabs (62.3% of men and 45.2% of women).
Approximately 17,500 Christians – a rate of 98 per 1,000 persons – were registered at the Ministry of Labor, Welfare, and Social Services in 2020. This percentage was lower than that of Moslems who were registered (approximately 183 per 1,000 persons) and Jews who were registered (107 per 1,000 persons).
In 2020, about 3,500 Christians – a rate of about 20 per 1,000 persons – were placed in social service frameworks. This rate is lower than the rate among Moslems (about 32 per 1,000 persons) and Jews (about 28 per 1,000 persons).
In the year of court judgement 2019, the rate of persons judged in criminal trials among the Christian population in Israel was about 211 per 100,000 persons, out of those judged, the rate among non-Arab Christians was substantially higher than the rate among Arab Christians (about 293 and 187 per 100,000 persons, respectively).
The rate of convicted Christians was about 187 per 100,000 persons. The rate of non-Arab Christian persons convicted was substantially higher than the rate of Arab Christians (about 259 and about 166 per 100,000 persons, respectively).
The most common offences among persons convicted from the Christian population in Israel are as follows: offences against public order (27.4%), morality offences (19.7%), and bodily harm (16.4%).
84% were satisfied with their lives: 24% were very satisfied and 60% were satisfied.