JNS.org – The population of Israel on the eve of 2015 stands at 8,296,000 residents, marking a two-percent increase over last year, according to the Jewish state’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

During 2014, Israel’s population grew by 162,000. Among the current population, 6,218,000 (74.9 percent) are Jews, 1,719,000 (20.7 percent) are Arabs, and 359,000 (4.2 percent) are defined as “other” by the CBS.

Last year, the Israeli population was estimated to be 8.13 million, and in 2012 it was 7.98 million. A decade ago, Israel’s population was an estimated 6.86 million.