This report relates to all people arriving in Israel, including those already here who were changing their status, and Israelis who were processed by Aliyah Shlichim (such as returning minors, minors with Israeli citizenship, foreign-born citizens and returning residents)-henceforth "people arriving in Israel" unless otherwise stated. Israelis processed by Aliyah Shlichim were mainly from Western countries.

Between January and August 2003, 14,976 people arrived in Israel under the auspices of the Jewish Agency. Among these 14,082 were immigrants (including those who willingly changed their status and those who have had citizenship conferred on them). The rest were Israelis who were processed by Aliyah Shlichim. This is a decrease of 32% compared to the same period last year.

Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe

• Between January and August 2003, 7,009 immigrants arrived from the FSU (making up 47% of the total number of immigrants). This is a 39% decrease compared to the same period last year.
  In an analysis of individual countries we see that the most significant decrease in Aliyah is from the Ukraine (2,089 between January and August 2003, compared with 4,021 last year), and from Russia. Between January and August 2003, 2,774 immigrants arrived from Russia compared with 4,084 immigrants during the same period in the previous year.
• Between January and August 2003, 131 immigrants arrived from Eastern Europe, compared with 196 immigrants that arrived during the same period last year. This is an decrease of 33%.

Aliyah from the West

• Between January and August 2003, 2,015 people arrived from Western Europe. Of these, 1,720 were immigrants and 295 were Israelis. This is approximately an 4% decrease compared to the same period last year.
• Between January and August 2003, 1,434 immigrants arrived from France, compared with 1,677 that arrived during the same period last year. This is a decrease of 14%.
• Between January and August 2003, 1,838 immigrants and Israelis arrived from North America. This is approximately a 17% increase compared to the same period last year.
• Between January and August 2003, 1,415 immigrants and Israelis arrived from South America. This is a 66% decrease compared to the same period last year. The majority of immigrants from South America continue to come from Argentina. 708 immigrants and Israelis arrived between January and August 2003, comprising approximately 50% of those arriving from this continent.

Aliyah from Other Countries

2,073 immigrants arrived from Ethiopia between January and August 2003. This is the same amount compared to the same period last year.

Immigrants in Israeli Absorption Centers

During August 2003 there were 8,521 immigrants living in initial absorption facilities.

1. 4,290 were in absorption centers. 3% of them are participants in the Selah program, 15% are students, 8% are (other) youth, 16% are pre-aliyah registration from Shaliach in Western Countries, and 2% are participants of business programs. 1,977 of the immigrants in absorption centers (46%) are immigrants from Ethiopia.
2. An additional 4,193 immigrants from Ethiopia were living in additional absorption facilities run by the Jewish Agency for the specific purpose of absorbing the current wave of immigration from Ethiopia.
   

Charts

Statistical Overview (PDF 27K*)

Immigrants and Israelis Handled by Aliyah Emissaries (PDF 25K*)

Last updated: Wednesday, July 07, 2004