Aliyah from Britain in 2015 rose by almost a quarter from the previous year, according to preliminary figures from the Jewish Agency.

The number of British Jews who made their home in Israel climbed from 629 in 2014 to 774 last year at the latest count.

They were part of the largest annual emigration to Israel in over than a decade, with more than 30,000 making aliyah from all countries last year.

Aliyah has averaged around 500 a year from the UK since 2000, but has been on the rise since the early part of the decade when the figures were only around 300 to 400. The 2015 total is one of the highest for Britain over the decade.

Rael Goodman, head of the Jewish Agency in the UK, said that the statistic represented “once again a true vote of confidence in Israel – a thriving economy, a country full of opportunities, offering an exciting and meaningful future in the heart of the Jewish world”.

The 2015 figure for the diaspora as a whole – a 10 per cent rise on 2014 and the highest since 2003 - reflected large contingents in particular from France, Russia and the Ukraine.

Aliyah from France, up from 7,200 in 2014 to 7,900 in 7,900 last year, was the highest for any individual country.

But it was well short of the 15,000 predicted by some after the terror attacks in Paris at the beginning of last year.