Israel is facing a record wave of departures of highly educated and well-paid citizens, with the number of emigrations almost doubling over the past five years. The largest increase was recorded during 2023 and 2024.
According to data from the Planning and Economics Department of the Israel Tax Administration, professionals in the technology and healthcare sectors are disproportionately represented among those leaving the country, further deepening the problem of the departure of qualified labor.
The analysis shows that until 2019, citizens leaving Israel paid an average of about 500 million shekels ($166 million) a year in income tax before emigration. In the past two years, this amount has increased to about 1.2 billion shekels ($398.4 million) a year, media reports.
At the same time, the average income of immigrants, which was previously close to the national average, is now about 50 percent higher. The average annual income of citizens leaving the country has increased from 125,000 shekels ($41,500) in the period 2015-2019, to about 200,000 shekels in 2024.
"Based on all indicators related to Israelis who have recently left the country, it is clear that the pace of emigration has increased significantly among the most powerful and wealthiest segments of society, while among citizens with lower incomes the rate of departures has remained almost unchanged," said the study's authors, Ariel Greizaz and Nili Ben-Tovim.
They warn that if this trend continues, Israel could lose about 3.5 billion shekels ($1.16 billion) in tax revenue each year over the next five years. This poses a serious challenge to the budget, as the richest 20 percent of citizens provide up to 92 percent of total income tax revenue, writes timesofisrael .
Of particular concern is the fact that more and more workers in their 40s and 50s, the most productive part of the workforce, are leaving the country. With the technology sector accounting for a fifth of Israel's Gross Domestic Product and more than half of its total exports, experts warn that the exodus of skilled professionals directly threatens the foundations of the national economy.
A parallel study by Tel Aviv University shows that around 50,000 Israeli citizens have left the country each year for three consecutive years, until 2025. Prolonged military conflicts and political instability are cited as the main reasons.
Economist Dan Ben-David has warned that the continued drain of key human capital could create a vicious cycle from which the country will find it difficult to recover. /Telegraph/
