A Tel Aviv University study found that more Israelis spent extended periods abroad in 2023–25 than a decade earlier, bringing the potential loss of skilled workers into focus ahead of the Oct. 27 election.
Using data from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the university reported that about 270,000 eligible Israeli citizens spent at least three consecutive months abroad in 2023–25, compared with 183,219 in 2013–15. For new immigrants, the measure also requires at least three years of residence in Israel before departure.
In an earlier publication, the researchers found increased emigration among physicians, doctoral degree holders, engineers, other degree holders and people with relatively high incomes. The university identified technology, health care and academia as sectors that rely heavily on trained workers.
The researchers also estimate that 45,000 to 50,000 people who departed in 2025 would remain abroad for at least 12 months. They based the projection on the relationship between three-month and 12-month stays, rather than a completed count of yearlong stays. The estimate covers eligible citizens generally, not graduates alone; official data for the 2025 departure group are expected in early 2027.
Other official counts use different rules. The CBS classifies someone as an emigrant after at least nine months abroad, counted cumulatively in the year after departure, including an uninterrupted first three months. Its July 2026 table lists 82,774 emigrants for 2024 and 69,489 for 2025, but those years refer to when migration status was determined, generally a year after departure.
A Knesset Research and Information Center analysis presented to a parliamentary committee instead used departure years. It gave CBS-based figures of 82,800 emigrants for 2023 and 69,500 for 2024.
The Bank of Israel said the annual migration balance shifted from an average net inflow of about 20,000 people in 2016–19 to a net outflow of about 20,000 in 2024–25. It linked much of the increase in departures to immigrants who arrived during the Russia-Ukraine war and viewed their stay as temporary. Excluding short-term immigration, the bank put the average annual net inflow at about 7,500 in 2024–25, down from about 27,000 in 2016–19. The bank could not yet tell whether the change would persist.
France 24 reported that Tamar, a pseudonym for a product manager it interviewed, would consider leaving with her family if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition stays in power. Maya, a pseudonym for a general practitioner interviewed by the outlet, was exploring work abroad and worried about violence after the election. France 24 said both first names were changed at the women's request.
Tel Aviv University professor Itai Ater told France 24 that he attributed the initial rise in departures in summer 2023 to the government's proposed judicial overhaul. The departure figures do not establish what caused the increase or how an election result would affect it.
Israelis vote for parties on Oct. 27. The results will shape which parties can form a government with at least 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
