Demographics
According to Victor Guerin in June 1870, Deir Istiya had roughly 400 inhabitants. In the 1922 British survey, it had a population of 674 inhabitants, rising to 886 in a 1931 census. Sami Hadawi recorded a population of 1,190 in 1945. In 1961, while a part of Jordan, there were 1,641 residents, decreasing drastically after its occupation by Israel with nearly half of the residents gradually emigrating mostly to Kuwait. In 1982, there were 1,500 people living in Deir Istiya, rising to 2,100 in 1987.
In a 1997 census carried out by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Deir Istiya had a population of 2,802, of which only 2.1% were Palestinian refugees. Over half of the population is under the age of 20 (51.8%). People between the ages of 20 and 44 make up 33.3% of the population, 14.8% between 45 and 64, and 6% over the age of 65. According to the PCBS 2007 Census, the town's population had increased to 3,106.
There are primarily eighteen clans in the village. The Abu Hijleh, Salman, Mansour, and Diab families comprise three-fifths of the population. The Abu Hijleh own the most land in Deir Istiya, and hold lands in Biddya and Sanniriya, as well as some in Qalqilya and Nablus.
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