JERUSALEM (AFP)---The population of Israel topped 7.8 million at the end of 2011, according to figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics.   

The 7,836,000 total was made up of 5,901,000 Jews (75.3%), 1,610,000 Arabs (20.5%) and 325,000 others (4.2%).   

The total marked a 141,000 increase on the end of 2010 and represented an average population growth rate of 1.8% a year since 2003.   

The Central Bureau of Statistics counts among Israel's residents the roughly 270,000 Palestinians living in east Jerusalem and the approximately 18,000 Druze residents of the Golan Heights.