The authors of the study stated that it was difficult to determine whether this shift in the makeup of emigrants stemmed from major changes that occurred in society and the labor market following the COVID-19 pandemic, or whether it was a reaction to the political upheaval over the judicial overhaul and security events that started with the October 7 onslaught and war in Gaza that have been shaking Israel since 2023.<\/p>\n
They warned that the sharply rising emigration of high-earning Israelis could cause tax revenue losses to the tune of an annual $3.5 billion.<\/p>\n
The trend could turn into a spiral effect difficult to reverse, cautioned Itai Ater, an economics professor at Tel Aviv University\u2019s Coller School of Management. \u201cMore Israelis, including many high-earners such as physicians and tech workers, are leaving Israel in recent years,\u201d Ater told The Times of Israel. \u201cIt is crucial that we tackle this dangerous trend before it becomes too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study was published a day after prominent academic economist Dan Ben-David issued similar warnings to the Times of Israel, as reported in an editor\u2019s column<\/a> by David Horovitz and a ToI podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n The tax authority study came on the heels of a Tel Aviv University report released earlier this week which showed<\/a> a record-setting trend of emigration from Israel continued in 2025, with nearly 50,000 Israelis leaving the country for the third year in a row.<\/p>\n Historically, much of Israel\u2019s emigration has been framed around the pursuit of better economic opportunities abroad. The Tel Aviv University report attributed Israel\u2019s prolonged military conflict and political tensions to driving elevated emigration that could threaten the country\u2019s long-term strategic interests.<\/p>\n \t The research, which analyzed income levels and tax payments among working Israelis from 2015 to 2024, showed that up until 2019, income taxes paid by Israelis in the year before leaving the country amounted to an average of about NIS 500 million ($166 million) per year, while in 2023 and 2024 the amount jumped to about NIS 1.2 billion annually.<\/p>\n The authors of the study inferred from this that the outflow of Israeli citizens led to a potential loss in tax revenues of about NIS 700 million for each year of emigration. The Israel Tax Authority clarified that this does not represent an immediate loss of all tax revenue, as some emigrants keep their residency status and continue paying taxes in Israel after departure.<\/p>\n The average annual income of emigrants in the year before departure grew in real terms by about 60%, from about NIS 125,000 in the 2015 to 2019 period to about NIS 200,000 in 2024, according to the study.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this alarming trend continues at this rate, within five years, Israel could be losing NIS 3.5 billion in tax revenues every year,\u201d said Greizaz and Ben-Tovim.<\/p>\n For a country where the top 20% of income earners are paying 92% of all income tax revenue, the change in the mix of Israelis leaving the country represents a significant strategic risk to state revenues and growth in the economy.<\/p>\n \t Israel is a small country with few natural resources whose growth and security depend heavily on human capital concentrated in specific sectors, led by tech, which accounts for about a fifth of gross domestic product (GDP) and more than half of exports, with a third of total income tax revenue<\/a> generated from salaried tech employees.<\/p>\n An analysis across age groups showed that the share of Israelis leaving in their 40s and 50s grew by more than 50%, constituting about 20% of the emigrants over the age of 20, compared to only 13% a decade ago.<\/p>\n The share of the 30-40 age group bracket remained stable, while the share of 20-30 year-olds, with lower incomes and whose contribution to tax revenue is much lower, declined, the study showed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe increase in the age of emigrants affects total tax receipts in a non-linear way, because those aged 30-50 are the high-income earners and the primary taxpayers,\u201d said Greizaz and Ben-Tovim.<\/p>\n For the purpose of the Israel Tax Authority study, an emigrant is defined as an Israeli resident who had lived in the country for at least three years and left for at least 90 consecutive days in the year of departure, and stayed outside Israel for at least 270 days in the following year.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform \u2014 from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.<\/p>\n This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.<\/p>\n \u2014 Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist<\/p>\n \t\t\t
\t\t\t
\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t That\u2019s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.<\/p>\n So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven\u2019t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.<\/p>\n For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n Thank you, \t\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-3-1-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tWorkers from the high-tech sector protest against the proposed changes to the legal system, in Tel Aviv, on February 7, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/F191201OF03-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tThe Tax Authority offices in Jerusalem. December 1, 2019. (Olivier Fitoussi\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tHelp us report truthfully on social media\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gabriella-200.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tSupport our work\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tSupport our work\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYou’re a dedicated reader\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/334x334-200x200.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n