Extended Departures From Israel Remain Near Record Highs
A total of 90,922 Israeli citizens left the country for at least three months in 2025. The result was almost unchanged from 2024 and confirmed that the sharp rise in extended departures recorded since 2023 has yet to reverse. The figure, however, should not be interpreted as the number of permanent emigrants.
Extended departures remain close to 90,000
In 2025, 90,922 Israelis remained outside the country for at least three consecutive months. The comparable total was 91,499 in 2024 and 86,509 in 2023. The latest annual decline was only 577 people, or 0.6%, while the figure was 5.1% higher than in 2023.
During 2010–2019, approximately 60,000 Israelis a year left for three months or more. The 2025 total was therefore about 51.5% above the pre-pandemic annual average.
Globes reported on August 3, 2026, that the analysis was carried out by Professor Itai Ater of Tel Aviv University’s Coller School of Management, Professor Nittai Bergman of the university’s School of Economics, and doctoral student Doron Zamir. The researchers analyzed Central Bureau of Statistics data and included only citizens who had lived in Israel for at least three years before leaving. This filter reduces the effect of people who arrived from Russia and Ukraine following the Ukraine–Russia conflict and quickly moved elsewhere, although it may still include those who remained in Israel for three years. Ater acknowledged that some of the people counted would return after several months or more than a year.
Three months abroad does not prove permanent emigration
The main limitation of the new indicator is the relatively short observation period. A three-month absence may reflect relocation, but it may also be connected with education, temporary employment, medical treatment, family obligations or an extended trip.
It would therefore be misleading to describe all 90,922 people as permanent emigrants. The more accurate description is Israelis who left for at least three months or extended departures from Israel.
The researchers adopted the shorter period because complete 12-month migration data are published with a substantial delay. In August 2026, it was still too early to determine how many citizens who departed during 2025 had permanently transferred their main place of residence abroad.
The verified source does not provide a correlation coefficient of 0.96 or a reliable forecast that 45,000–50,000 of the people counted will eventually be classified as annual emigrants. Those figures should therefore be removed from the earlier version.
Official statistics apply a stricter definition
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics classifies a citizen as a long-term emigrant after the person spends at least nine months abroad during the year following the initial departure. The first three months must be consecutive.
The classification is assigned to the year in which the 12-month observation establishes the person’s status, rather than necessarily to the calendar year of the initial departure. Someone who first left in 2023, for example, could be classified and removed from the resident population only in 2024.
Under this methodology, 82,774 Israelis were classified as outgoing emigrants in 2024, up 39.4% from 2023. Another 24,150 people were classified as returning Israelis, producing a negative balance of 58,624.
Preliminary figures for determination year 2025 show 69,500 outgoing emigrants and 18,800 returning Israelis. The difference was negative by about 50,700. This does not mean that all 69,500 people initially departed during the 2025 calendar year; some may have first left in 2024.
The median age of outgoing emigrants in 2024 was 31.9. People aged 20–39 represented about 40% of emigrants, compared with 26.5% of Israel’s overall population. Men accounted for 51.5% and women for 48.5%. Among married emigrants, 80.4% left during the same year as their spouse.
The two migration balances measure different things
The balance between outgoing and returning Israeli citizens is not the same as Israel’s overall net migration.
The preliminary negative balance of 50,700 for 2025 covers only citizens classified as emigrants and citizens returning after long-term residence abroad. It excludes new immigrants, some newly naturalized citizens and other groups added to the population for the first time during the same determination year.
Overall net migration uses a broader calculation comparing total international inflows with total outflows. The negative balance of Israeli emigrants and returning citizens should therefore not be presented as Israel’s complete net migration loss.
The timing also differs. The figure of 90,922 concerns people who departed during 2025 and remained abroad for at least three months. The preliminary figure of 69,500 concerns people whose long-term emigrant status was determined in 2025 after an observation period. Comparing the two without explaining the definitions creates a false impression of conflicting statistics.
Migration is slowing Israel’s population growth
The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies estimated Israel’s overall net migration at approximately negative 26,000 in 2024 and projected a negative balance of about 37,000 for 2025. This broader assessment includes population flows beyond departing and returning Israeli citizens.
Combined with slower natural population increase, negative migration was expected to reduce Israel’s population growth rate to approximately 0.9% in 2025. The figure was an estimate based on information available at the time of the study rather than a final annual census result.
The institute also identified a change in the destinations selected by Israel-born emigrants. Traditional destinations such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia were accounting for a smaller share, while Germany, Cyprus and East Asian countries were becoming more prominent. Researchers suggested that lifestyle considerations were playing a larger role alongside employment and income.
Working-age departures carry the greatest economic risk
The age structure of emigrants may matter more economically than the headline total. Citizens at the beginning or middle of their professional careers account for a disproportionately large share of departures. Their relocation can affect tax revenue, household consumption and the supply of skilled labor.
Healthcare, engineering, academic research and advanced technology are particularly sensitive because training specialists in these fields takes years. The available 2025 data, however, do not show exactly how many doctors, engineers, researchers or technology employees left.
Ater’s warning about the potential departure of these professional groups was an expert assessment, not the result of a complete occupational breakdown of all 90,922 people. Claims that the data have already demonstrated a mass exodus of doctors or technology professionals would therefore go beyond the evidence.
Political uncertainty may influence household decisions
Ater said some citizens might be delaying final decisions until the election. His statement reflects concern about political uncertainty but does not establish that electoral politics is the primary cause of emigration.
Border-crossing statistics do not record each person’s motivation. Employment, housing costs, education, taxation, security, dual citizenship and family circumstances may all influence a decision to remain abroad.
Alex Weinreb of the Taub Center also noted that increased mobility among educated and financially secure people is visible in other Western economies, including Britain, France and the United States. Remote employment and internationally transferable skills make relocation easier than it was in earlier decades.
The duration of the trend will determine the damage
One year of elevated departures does not necessarily create irreversible demographic damage. Some citizens return after completing studies, overseas employment contracts or temporary family moves.
The more significant warning is that the number of people leaving for at least three months has remained above 86,000 for three consecutive years, while the official balance between long-term departures and returns remains strongly negative.
A reliable assessment of the long-term impact will require final information on returns, length of residence abroad, age, education, occupation and income. Without those details, it is difficult to distinguish temporary international mobility from a lasting transfer of human capital.
As International Investment experts report, the evidence confirms a sustained period of elevated departures but does not support classifying all 90,922 people as permanent emigrants. The central concern is the combination of three factors: high departures for a third consecutive year, fewer returning citizens and the disproportionate representation of people in early working age. Political claims describing a definitive population exodus, or attributing the entire trend to one cause, simplify a more complex picture. Final migration and return data will be required before the scale of permanent loss can be established.
FAQ: Emigration from Israel
How many Israelis left in 2025?
A total of 90,922 citizens left for at least three months. The number measures extended departures rather than permanent emigration.
Why are they not all classified as emigrants?
Some may have been temporarily abroad for employment, study, medical treatment, family reasons or extended travel and may subsequently return.
How does Israel define a long-term emigrant?
A citizen must spend at least nine months abroad during the year after departure, including the first three months continuously.
How many long-term emigrants were recorded for 2025?
A preliminary 69,500 citizens were classified as emigrants during determination year 2025. They did not necessarily all make their initial departure during the 2025 calendar year.
What does the negative balance of 50,700 mean?
It is the difference between 69,500 classified emigrants and 18,800 returning citizens. It is not Israel’s complete net migration balance because it excludes some categories of new arrivals.
Which age group is most strongly represented?
People aged 20–39 accounted for about 40% of outgoing emigrants in 2024, substantially above their share of the overall population.
Are doctors and technology workers leaving?
Researchers have raised concerns about these professions, but the published 2025 figures do not provide a complete occupational breakdown.
Why do migration estimates differ?
The indicators use different definitions, observation periods and timing rules. Three-month departures, officially determined long-term emigration and overall net migration measure separate phenomena.