By 2023, the Jewish proportion of Israel's population is expected to drop 10 percentage points to 70 per cent of the total population, according to the country's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2000, 78 per cent of Israel's total population were Jewish. In twenty years, an estimated 2.3 million Arabs will live in Israel, i.e. 25 per cent of the total population. In 2000, Arabs made up 19 per cent of the population, or 1.2 million people. The country's total population is expected to increase by around 45 per cent over the coming 20 years to some 9.3 million people, compared to 6.4 million now. CBS estimates that the average number of births per woman in Israel will drop from 2.9 to 2.7. The average life span will increase by 2.6 years to 79.8 years for men and 83.8 years for women.