ABSTRACT
Israel has approximately 290 kibbutzim, varying in population from less than 100 members in the very young kibbutzim, to close to 2,000 in some of the oldest. The average kibbutz, however, has about 440 permanent residents, with the total population of the kibbutz movement in 1990 numbering around 130,000. While this figure represents about 2.8 per cent of the country’s population, the kibbutz movement’s share in Israel’s total civilian labour force constitutes about 5 per cent and accounts for approximately 7 to 9 per cent of Israel’s industrial output and about 8 to 9 per cent of industrial exports. This imbalance exists due to the exceedingly high rate of the movement’s participation in the labour force-up to 60 per cent of the total kibbutz population (twice as high as the national average)—and the efficiency of its industrial production units.
