Jewish Population Outside Israel Shows Decline

The world’s Jewish population outside Israel is steadily declining and will fall from the current 9.5 million people to about 6 million in less than 40 years, the World Zionist Organization said Monday.

In a report on Jewish demography, the organization said low birthrates, intermarriage and assimilation were the main factors responsible for the trend.

However, the Jewish population of Israel--3.5 million--is rising because it is largely unaffected by intermarriage.

In addition, Israeli families have an average of 2.8 children per family, compared with 1.5 per family among Jews outside the country, the report said.