U.S. Population Grows at Lowest Rate on Record During Pandemic
The population expanded by just 0.1% or 392,665 people this year.
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. population grew at the slowest rate on record in 2021 as slowing migration, an aging population and low birth rates were exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday show.
The population expanded by just 0.1% or 392,665 people this year, a smaller increase than during the influenza pandemic and World War I in the early years of the last century. It’s also the first time since 1937 that the population has expanded by less than 1 million.
Washington and New York were among the regions with the biggest drop in people while Idaho, Utah and surrounding states gained the most, the data show.
While declining population growth rates have been a trend in the U.S. for years now amid longer-term dynamics like the aging population and lower birth rates, the pandemic played a role. More than 800,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 since the pandemic began in 2020. Migration trends were also lower in 2021, with the pandemic restraining international travel.
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