The population growth rate is about 2.5%, significantly higher than the average growth in Israel (see Table 1). The ratio of Jews to Arabs is 2.2 (see Table 2), significantly lower than this ratio in the rest of Israel (3.9). It is this growth rate that accounts for the high growth in population in the Negev in spite of the negative migration from the Negev region (0.61% per year). This is particularly true among the Bedouins in the Negev.