Number of people employed in Israel 2021, by industry

In 2021, 498,500 people worked in the education industry in Israel, making this sector the largest employer in the country. In addition, the human health and social work industry employed 456,600 people, which was the second-highest number of employees in a single industry that year. In contrast, the industry of water supply, sewerage and waste management registered the lowest number of employees that year, with 16,400 people working in this sector.

Rising number of students predicted

The relatively high figure of people employed in the education sector in the country can be related with the projected rising number of students enrolled in schools in Israel. It is estimated that the number of students enrolled will more than double by 2060, reaching over four million. Dissatisfaction with the current wages in the industry and a high rate of resignation among workers have led to several labor disputes between education unions and the government in recent years.

Comparable wages in the human health industry

Israel’s mandatory health insurance and the system based on the four official healthcare providers that employed more than 450,000 people in 2021. This is the second largest sector in the country in terms of number of employees. The average monthly wage of employees in this sector could be compared with that of employees in the second largest industry, human health. At the beginning of 2023, the average wage in both industries was between 8,700 and 8,900 Israeli shekels. Israel's public health expenditure per capita could be compared internationally with that of some of the Baltic states, such as Lithuania and Estonia, at around 2,350 U.S. dollars as of 2022.