New Record at Ben-Gurion Airport: 1.4 Million Israelis Traveled Abroad in August

August 2026 saw a new record for Israelis traveling abroad: 1.41 million departures in a single month, the highest monthly figure ever recorded. The data, published today (Sunday) by the Central Bureau of Statistics, shows that the record was set despite operational challenges at Ben-Gurion Airport and the fact that some airlines that operated in Israel before the war have yet to resume service in the country. The previous record was set in August 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis and the war, when 1.24 million overseas departures were recorded.

According to the data, about 1.2 million departures, 86% of all overseas departures in August, were by air. Another 192,400 departures were recorded at land border crossings, including 86,600 through the Taba crossing. An additional 11,700 departures were by sea.

Despite the exceptional August figure, the record set in 2019 has not yet been broken when looking at the first eight months of the year. From the beginning of January through the end of August 2026, 6.07 million overseas departures by Israelis were recorded, compared with 6.2 million departures during the same period in 2019.

Central Bureau of Statistics data also shows that not everyone included in the departure figures is an Israeli who lives in the country permanently. Of the 1.41 million departures in August, 70,600, about 5% of the total, were Israeli migrants living abroad who came to Israel for visits home and then departed.

Meanwhile, as Israelis traveled abroad in record numbers, the recovery in incoming tourism to Israel slowed somewhat. During August, 115,900 tourist arrivals from abroad were recorded, compared with 118,200 arrivals in August 2025, a slight decline from the same month last year.