A trend of citizens leaving Israel has intensified due to political instability, economic crisis, and prolonged military conflict.
A report by researchers at Tel Aviv University reveals that a record number of Israeli citizens have left the country leading up to 2025.
According to the report, 268,509 Israeli citizens left the country for at least three months between 2023 and 2025. This trend, which began in 2023, peaked in 2024.
Israel’s influential daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported this information, citing the Tel Aviv University study.
The study states that 86,509 people left Israel for at least three months or longer in 2023. This figure rose to 91,499 in 2024, and another 90,922 people left in 2025.
According to the researchers’ calculations, approximately 269,000 people left Israel for extended periods over the three-year span from 2023 to 2025—an average of about 90,000 people per year.
In contrast, the annual average number of people leaving Israel between 2010 and 2019 was around 60,000. Between 2013 and 2015, a total of 183,219 people left the country—a figure lower than that of the recent three-year period.
An earlier report by Yedioth Ahronoth noted a significant recent increase in the rate of doctors, PhD holders, engineers, university professors, and high-income professionals leaving Israel.
The newspaper stated that Israel’s economy relies heavily on highly skilled human capital, with skilled workers playing a crucial role, particularly in the high-tech sector and knowledge-based industries. Consequently, the emigration of skilled personnel could pose a major long-term challenge to Israel’s economy.
This study was released amidst the ongoing war in Gaza, which began in October 2023, alongside Israel’s continuing military operations in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran. According to data from the Israeli military, at least 966 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza war since October 2023.
According to official figures, Israel’s total population currently exceeds 10 million.
