Among the FSU immigrants, females outnumbered males from age 25, and after 40 the sex imbalance became noticeably pronounced: 85 or fewer males per 100 females. However, in the FSU Jewish population in general and in Russia in particular males outnumbered females in the most marriageable ages and male shortage among FSU immigrants in Israel is the result of a selective propensity to migrate by sex.

At the same time, among veteran Israelis, males outnumbered females in all ages under 35, and in more advanced ages the sex imbalance is much more moderate than among FSU immigrants: 94-98 males per 100 females. These differences produce demographic ground for the spread of mixed marriages between the two groups in the Israeli population, and female FSU immigrants according to the situation in the “marriage market” should inevitably be more prone to marry outside their origin group. In fact, according to a study based on the data of the ongoing Labor Force Survey carried out by the Israel CBS, among the FSU immigrants who arrived in Israel in 1989-1991 and were then aged 25-35, during 1989-2009 only 10 percent of the male immigrants married a veteran Israeli, whereas as many as 36 percent of the female immigrants did so.