The average birthrate of Druze women in Israel is 2.5 children -
down from an average of about seven children in the 1970s. This
statistic means that Druze women are, on average, less fertile
than Muslim and Jewish women (with Total Fertility Rates of 2.9
and 3.7, respectively), but more fertile than Christian Arab
women (TFR of 2.1). The stats were released by the Central
Bureau of Statistics in honor of the Druze Holiday of Nabi
Shueib, and reported by Voice of Israel state-run radio. The
explanation for the drop in Druze births includes a rise in the
average marrying age and the use of contraceptions. According to
a report published by Prof. Oz Almog and Sharon Hornstein, last
updated in 2009, the entire Arab-speaking populace - Muslims and
Christian Arabs included - has become less fertile. However, the
decline in the Muslim birthrate stopped in the mid-1980s and
stabilized at about 4.7 children per woman, while the Druze
birthrate continued to drop. This is explained by a process of
secularization and in