World Jewish Population is Reported to Be 14,396,000

Continuing a pattern of recent years, the Jewish population of the United States is moving in increasing numbers from the Northeast to the Sun Belt – the Southern and Western parts of the country. This trend is demonstrated in demographic reports’ that appear in the 1980 edition of the American Jewish Year Book. The new edition, Volume 80 in the annual series, has just appeared.

The American Jewish Year Book is published jointly by the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Publication Society of America. Its editors are Milton Himmelfarb and David Singer. Morris Fine is editor emeritus. The book sells for $15.00.

Figures on world Jewish population in the Year Book show an increase of 110,000 over the previous year, or a total current world Jewish population of 14,396,000. However, Prof. Leon Shapiro, of Rutgers University, who compiled the world statistics, cautions that “there are no precise data on Jewish population in the various countries. The figures presented represent the best possible estimates…. The figures are of varying degrees of accuracy and are subject to substantial margins of error.”

Similarly, the authors of the demographic report on Jewish population in the United States, Alvin Chenkin and Maynard Miran, research consultant and associate respectively of the Council of Jewish Federations, warn that two factors combine to make their total estimate problematic. “The extent of the shift to the ‘sun-belt’ states may not yet be fully reported. On the other hand, the New York City area estimate is, in all likelihood, “overstated.”

5,860,900 JEWS IN THE U.S.

They estimate that the current U.S. Jewish population is 5,860,900, a modest increase over the previous year’s figure of 5,780,960. the South and West comprise 30.2 percent of the total as compared to 29.1 in 1978 and 27.8 in 1977. The Northeast and North central states represent 69.8 percent of the total Jewish population, as compared to 70.9 and 72.2 percent in 1978 and 1977 respectively. Jews comprise.2.7 percent of the total population in the U.S.

Estimating the New York City Jewish population at 1,228,000, a figure based on the 1970 National Jewish Population Study, the authors point out that unofficial estimates by the New York Department of City Planning show a 13.5 percent drop in the city’s white population between 1970 and 1977. “An extrapolation of this figure to 1979 could reduce the Jewish population figure for New York City to around 1,000,000, “they added.

After the United States, countries with significantly large numbers of Jews are: Israel, 3,135,000; Soviet Union; 2,666,000; France, 650,000; Great Britain, 410,000; Canada, 305,000; Argentina, 300,000; Brazil, 150,000; and South Africa, 118,000.

Among the Jewish population figures for U.S. cities listed in the Year Book’s tables are Greater New York, 1,998,000; Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, 455,000; Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, 295,000; Chicago Metropolitan. Area, 253,000; Miami, 225,000; Boston, 170,000; Greater Washington, 160,000; Bergen County (N.J.), 100,000; Essex County (N.J.), 95,000; Baltimore, 92,000; Cleveland, 75,000; Detroit, 75,000, San Francisco, 75,000, Montgomery County (Md.), 70,000 Sr. Louis, 60,000; Fort Lauderdale, 60,000; Hollywood (Flag.), 55,000; Pittsburgh, 51,000.

In Europe, including Asiatic USSR and Turkey, there are 4,142,450 Jews. The Jewish population of the Americas is 6,783,220, in Asia, there are 3,221,010 Jews; in Africa, 174,320; and in Australia-New Zealand, 75,000. The Jewish population in major cities in the Soviet Union is; Kharkov, 80,000; Kiev, 170,000; Leningrad, 165,000, Moscow, 285,000; Odessa, 120,000; Sverdlovsk, 40,000; and Zhitomir, 20,000.