One million people, including about 880,000 children, live below the poverty line in Israel. This emerges from the National Insurance Institute’s poverty report for 2024. This represents about 20% of the total population and 28.0% of children. In international comparison, child poverty in Israel is extremely severe: Israel leads among developed countries (OECD) and is second only to Costa Rica. In Tel Aviv and the central region, poverty rates are much lower than the national average (14-15%), while in the south and north, poverty rates are much higher (21%-22%). In the Jerusalem district, poverty rates climb to 36.5%. The report data includes initial references to 2025 figures, and according to current estimates (which will only be finalized next year), there has been a slight increase in both the extent and severity of poverty.
