How many Israelis left the country and how it affects the economy

About 150,000 Israelis left the country for more than a year during 2023-2025, according to a Tel Aviv University study. Among those who left are wealthy citizens and specialists in medicine and high-tech. The tax authority estimates potential annual budget losses at $3.5 billion in five years. In the first half of 2025, the outflow slowed by 20%.

In recent years, Israel has faced a large-scale population outflow: about 150,000 citizens who were abroad for more than a year left the country. James Shotter, the Jerusalem correspondent for the Financial Times, cites a Tel Aviv University study covering the period from 2023 to 2025. In the first two years, about 100,000 people left, and in 2025, up to 50,000 more were added. These figures do not contradict data on nearly 269,000 who left for at least three months. Among those who left, wealthy citizens and highly qualified specialists in medicine and high-tech predominate. According to estimates by the tax authority, in five years, annual losses to the state budget from uncollected taxes could amount to about $3.5 billion if the trend continues. In the first half of 2025, the rate of outflow slowed by about twenty percent. Experts cite the protracted military conflict, political crisis, and rising prices, as well as the anxious mood of the liberal part of society, as the main triggers.