Jewish population

Recorded figures

Nothing falls in this time span.

1. 70 CE

   1,200,000 – 6,000,000

   Disputed

   DellaPergola concurs with 600,000–1 million Jews in the Land of Israel and a similar or slightly higher Diaspora (about 1.2–2 million worldwide). Higher estimates of 4–6 million around the Mediterranean (Beloch, Juster, Baron), of whom roughly half in the Land of Israel, remain in circulation; Botticini and Eckstein tabulate about 4.5–5 million circa 65 CE.

   [2]

2. 100 CE

   3,800,000 – 4,000,000

   Botticini and Eckstein Table 3 (ca. 100 C.E.) put world Jewry at about 3.8–4 million, after about 4.5–5 million around 65 C.E.

   [5]

3. 150 CE

   2,800,000 – 3,000,000

   Botticini and Eckstein Table 3 give about 2.8–3 million Jews worldwide around 150 C.E.

   [5]

4. 300 CE

   1,800,000 – 2,000,000

   Botticini and Eckstein Table 3 give about 1.8–2 million Jews worldwide around 300 C.E.

   [5]

5. 500 CE

   1,200,000 – 1,500,000

   DellaPergola's long-run model has about 1.2 million at 500 CE; Botticini and Eckstein give 1.2–1.5 million around 550.

   [2]

6. 650 CE

   1,000,000 – 1,500,000

   Disputed

   Botticini and Eckstein's handbook chapter puts world Jewry at about 1.2–1.5 million in the early seventh century and at about 1–1.2 million by the mid-seventh century. Their 2007 table places about 1.2–1.5 million around 550 and about 1–1.2 million around 750.

   [10]

7. 750 CE

   1,000,000 – 1,200,000

   Botticini and Eckstein Table 3 give about 1–1.2 million Jews worldwide around 750 C.E. Their Chosen Few summary also puts world Jewry at about 1–1.2 million in the days of Mohammed.

   [5]

8. 1000

   1,000,000 – 1,200,000

   Botticini and Eckstein Table 7 holds world Jewry at about 1–1.2 million from ca. 750 to ca. 1170 (roughly constant across the eighth through twelfth centuries). No separate millennial census figure is given; the year stands for that span.

   [5]

9. 1170

   1,000,000 – 1,500,000

   Between the 12th and 17th centuries DellaPergola judges world Jewry never much below one million nor above 1.5 million. The late-12th-century point is processed from Benjamin of Tudela.

   [2]

10. 1300

    1,000,000 – 1,200,000

    DellaPergola's Fundamentals Table 2 gives 1.2 million in 1300. Botticini and Eckstein Table 9 give about 1–1.2 million for the early fourteenth century.

    [11]

11. 1450

    1,000,000

    Botticini and Eckstein's Chosen Few summary states that by 1450 most of the world's about 1 million Jews lived in Christian Europe.

    [12]

12. 1490

    800,000 – 1,300,000

    Disputed

    DellaPergola's Fundamentals Table 2 gives 1.3 million in 1490. Botticini and Eckstein Table 9 give about 0.8–1 million for the late fifteenth century; their Chosen Few summary puts world Jewry below one million on the eve of the 1492–97 Iberian expulsions.

    [11]

13. 1650

    1,000,000

    DellaPergola places world Jewry at around or fewer than one million in the second half of the seventeenth century, after the 1648–1660 violence in Eastern Europe and the Thirty Years' War. The entry uses one million as the stated round figure; he does not publish a separate lower bound.

    [2]

14. 1700

    1,000,000 – 1,100,000

    After the mid-17th-century crises DellaPergola puts world Jewry at around or fewer than one million, and a rough 1.1 million in 1700.

    [2]

15. 1800

    2,500,000

    [2]

16. 1825

    3,281,000

    DellaPergola's Fundamentals Table 2 gives 3,281,000 Jews worldwide in 1825.

    [11]

17. 1850

    3,143,000 – 4,000,000

    Disputed

    Contemporary estimates compiled in the Jewish Encyclopedia (Jacobs): Jost, 1846, summed to 3,143,000; Berghaus, 1854, estimated 4,000,000. Nearby Boudin (1857) gave 3,900,000.

    [13]

18. 1868

    4,550,000

    Legoyt's 1868 estimate of 4,550,000, as listed in the Jewish Encyclopedia statistics table.

    [13]

19. 1880

    7,800,000

    [1]

20. 1896

    9,066,534

    Joseph Jacobs's 1896 estimate of 9,066,534, as listed in the Jewish Encyclopedia statistics table.

    [13]

21. 1900

    10,600,000

    DellaPergola's revised core-population figure for 1 January 1900 (original published estimate 10,728,500).

    [1]

22. 1917

    13,980,715

    American Jewish Year Book 1917–18 revised world total of 13,980,715 (Europe 9,986,447; America 3,094,309; Asia 499,679; Africa 380,865; Australia 19,415).

    [14]

23. 1922

    14,400,000

    DellaPergola's revised core-population figure for 1 January 1922.

    [1]

24. 1927

    15,324,515

    American Jewish Year Book 1928–29 states a world total of 15,324,515 Jews (continental distribution summing to the same figure). Country base years in the tables vary; the volume presents the total as the current world figure.

    [15]

25. 1933

    15,300,000

    USHMM, citing the American Jewish Year Book, estimates 15.3 million Jews worldwide in 1933 (about 9.5 million of them in Europe).

    [3]

26. 1939

    16,500,000 – 16,633,675

    Disputed

    DellaPergola's revised core estimate for 1 January 1939 is 16.5 million. The American Jewish Year Book 1948–49 compiled 16,633,675 at the end of 1939.

    [1]

27. 1945

    11,000,000

    DellaPergola's core estimate for 1 May 1945, matching the 11 million figure he and the 1948–49 Year Book use for the immediate postwar world total.

    [1]

28. 1948

    11,500,000

    DellaPergola's Fundamentals Table 2 gives 11.5 million Jews worldwide in 1948.

    [11]

29. 1950

    11,297,000

    DellaPergola's revised core estimate for 1 January 1950 in the 2024 Year Book chapter.

    [1]

30. 1960

    12,079,000

    DellaPergola's revised core estimate for 1 January 1960 in the 2024 Year Book chapter.

    [1]

31. 1970

    12,735,000

    [1]

32. 1980

    13,034,000

    DellaPergola's revised core estimate for 1 January 1980 in the 2024 Year Book chapter (original AJYB figure that year was 14,527,100).

    [1]

33. 1990

    13,103,000

    DellaPergola's revised core estimate for 1 January 1990 in the 2024 Year Book chapter.

    [1]

34. 2000

    13,575,000

    [1]

35. 2010

    14,299,000

    DellaPergola's revised core estimate for 1 January 2010 in the 2024 Year Book chapter.

    [1]

36. 2020

    15,380,600

    DellaPergola's revised core estimate for 1 January 2020 in the 2024 Year Book chapter.

    [1]

37. 2023

    15,691,200

    Core Jewish population on 1 January 2023, as published in DellaPergola's 2023 Year Book chapter.

    [1]

38. 2024

    15,736,800

    DellaPergola's core Jewish population estimate for 1 January 2024.

    [1]

Sources for population estimates

1. Sergio DellaPergola, World Jewish Population, 2024. American Jewish Year Book 2024, via Berman Jewish DataBank (2025)
2. Sergio DellaPergola, Notes toward a Demographic History of the Jews. Genealogy 8(1) (2024)
3. Jewish Population of Europe in 1933. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
4. Jewish Population of the World. American Jewish Year Book 1948–1949, via Berman Jewish Policy Archive (1949)
5. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, Voluntary Conversions and Diaspora: A Human Capital Interpretation of Jewish History. American Economic Association annual meeting paper (2007)
6. Jews in the USSR (1926–1959). Demographic Changes. JewishGen Belarus SIG (table compiled from the 1939 All-Union census)
7. Mandate for Palestine. Report of the Mandatory to the League of Nations (Palestine Administration, 1922). United Nations UNISPAL (British mandatory report) (1922)
8. José Hinojosa Montalvo, La sociedad y la economía de los judíos en Castilla y la Corona de Aragón durante la Baja Edad Media. Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, Serie III, Historia Medieval (1993)
9. The Contagion of Violence. 1391 and the Jews of the Spanish Kingdoms. Palgrave / Springer chapter (preview) (2021)
10. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, Religious Norms, Human Capital, and Money Lending in Jewish European History. Handbook chapter PDF via zvi-eckstein.com
11. Sergio DellaPergola, Some Fundamentals of Jewish Demographic History. Berman Jewish Policy Archive (PDF) (2001)
12. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, THE CHOSEN FEW: HOW EDUCATION SHAPED JEWISH HISTORY, 70–1492 (book summary). Bar-Ilan University Economics seminar PDF (Princeton University Press forthcoming summary)
13. Joseph Jacobs, Statistics. Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)
14. Statistics of Jews. American Jewish Year Book 1917–1918, via Berman Jewish DataBank (1918)
15. Statistics of Jews. American Jewish Year Book 1928–1929, via Berman Jewish Policy Archive (1929)
16. Israel Bartal and Kenneth B. Moss, The Jews of the Russian Empire in the Late 19th Century. The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization
17. Russia (Census Statistics). Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906)
18. Yannay Spitzer, A New Map of Jewish Communities in the Russian Empire (2012)
19. Игорь Виленский, Оценка сокращения численности еврейского населения Российской Империи и СССР (1897–1926). Еврейская Старина (2024)
20. Sergio DellaPergola, World Jewish Population, 2024. American Jewish Year Book 2024, via Berman Jewish DataBank / Israel CBS host (2025)
21. Sergio DellaPergola, Demographic Trends in Israel and Palestine: Prospects and Policy Implications. American Jewish Year Book 2003, via Berman Jewish DataBank (2003)
22. Population of Israel/Palestine by Religion (1553–Present). Jewish Virtual Library (citing CBS, British Mandate publications, Bachi and others)
23. US Jewish Population Pocket Demographics 2.0. Berman Jewish DataBank / Jewish Federations of North America (2018)
24. H. S. Linfield, The Jews of the United States: Preliminary Figures for 1937 (Linfield) / Statistics of Jews. American Jewish Year Book 1939–40, via Berman Jewish DataBank (1939)
25. Changes in the Jewish Population of the United States, 1949–1950. American Jewish Year Book 1951, via Berman Jewish DataBank (1951)
26. American Jewry, 1970 (NJPS 1971 article). American Jewish Year Book, via Berman Jewish DataBank
27. Germany: Jewish Population in 1933. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
28. German Jewish Refugees, 1933–1939. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
29. Robin R. Mundill, The Jews under Edward I (PhD thesis). University of St Andrews
30. Stéphane Mechoulan, The Expulsion of the Jews from France in 1306: a modern fiscal analysis. University of Toronto Department of Economics working paper (2004)
31. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein, Appendix A: Sources and Methodology for Section 2 (Jewish and total population in Germany-Austria and Poland-Lithuania). Authors' appendix PDF (citing Weinryb, Stampfer, Kupovetsky, Guggenheim, Toch, Battenberg, Israel) (2018)
32. Kirsten E. Schulze, The Jews of Lebanon between Coexistence and Conflict. Internet Archive full text
33. Jews in Arab Countries. American Jewish Year Book excerpt, Berman Jewish Policy Archive (1978)
34. Esther Meir-Glitzenstein, The Farhud. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
35. Joseph Rothschild (tabulated), Interwar East European Census Data. Lawrence University course materials
36. Mark Tolts, Population since World War I. YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
37. Davis Trietsch, Die Juden der Türkei. Länder und Völker der Türkei, Heft 8 (Leipzig) (1915)
38. Statistics of Jews (World Jewish Population). American Jewish Year Book 1940–1941, via Berman Jewish DataBank (1940)
39. Jewish Losses during the Holocaust: By Country. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
40. Andrzej Żbikowski, Extermination of Polish Jews. The genesis and course of Operation Reinhard. Żydowski Instytut Historyczny (Jewish Historical Institute)
41. Yitzhak Arad, “Operation Reinhard” | Death Camps of Belzec, Sobibor & Treblinka. Yad Vashem
42. The Holocaust in Hungary. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
43. Bulgaria. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
44. The Holocaust in Bohemia and Moravia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
45. The Holocaust in Slovakia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
46. France. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
47. Belgium. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
48. Norway. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
49. Denmark. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
50. Greece. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
51. Lithuania. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
52. German Jews during the Holocaust, 1939–1945. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia
53. Statistics of Jews (World and US Jewish Population). American Jewish Year Book 1946–1947, via Berman Jewish DataBank (1947)
54. Jacqueline Shields, Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries. Jewish Virtual Library
55. Lebanon Virtual Jewish History Tour. Jewish Virtual Library
56. Jewish Populations in the Arab World. Jewish Virtual Library (citing Sergio DellaPergola, World Jewish Population, 2021 / AJYB 2023)
57. Algeria (Vital Statistics). Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)
58. Archives juives n°45/2 — Les Juifs d'Algérie. Archives Juives / Les Belles Lettres (2012)
59. EHRI Country Report — Tunisia. European Holocaust Research Infrastructure
60. Leon Shapiro, World Jewish Population. American Jewish Year Book 1981 (estimates for 1979), via Berman Jewish DataBank (1981)
61. Sergio DellaPergola, World Jewish Population, 2020. American Jewish Year Book 2020, via Berman Jewish DataBank (2022)
62. Sara Koplik, The Demise of the Jewish Community in Afghanistan, 1933–1952. SOAS University of London (PhD thesis abstract / deposit page) (2001)
63. Argentina Virtual Jewish History Tour. Jewish Virtual Library
64. All-Union 1959 census — ethnic composition of the USSR. Demoscope Weekly (РГАЭ РФ fond 1562)
65. All-Union 1959 census — ethnic composition of the Uzbek SSR. Demoscope Weekly (РГАЭ РФ fond 1562)