Census Data Shows, US Population Growth, Slowed to a Crawl in 2021.
According to census data released in September, the population of the United States grew more slowly in 2021 than in any other year on record. .
The U.S. Census Bureau has attributed the record low
to the coronavirus pandemic, economic shutdowns
and lower numbers of migrants and births. .
Al Jazeera reports that in 2021, the U.S. population grew by about 393,000, or just 0.1%, a historic low. .
Luke Rogers, chief of the Census Bureau’s population
estimates branch said that this rate is slower than during
the influenza pandemic, World War I and the Great Depression. .
Luke Rogers, chief of the Census Bureau’s population
estimates branch said that this rate is slower than during
the influenza pandemic, World War I and the Great Depression. .
The slow rate of growth can be
attributed to decreased net
international migration, decreased
fertility, and increased mortality due
in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Census Bureau, via Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera points out that the census data also showed
that the U.S. poverty rate had risen from a 60-year low
following pandemic-related economic shutdowns. .
The U.S. has also become
more diverse as the white population declines. .
The U.S. population has been in decline since 2016 due
to a variety of factors, including decreasing fertility
and increasing mortality among an aging population. .
According to the Census Bureau's estimates,
births outnumbered deaths by only 148,000,
the smallest difference in over 80 years. .
U.S. natural increase was already
at a low ebb prior to COVID with
the fertility rate hitting a new record
low each year and deaths steadily
rising due to the population aging, Kenneth Johnson, University of
New Hampshire demographer, via Al Jazeera