The Census Bureau released estimates this week showing that the U.S. population has fallen to a record low.
The U.S. population grew by a mere 0.1 percent between July 1, 2020, and July 1, 2021. That’s only 392,665 people in the whole country. It’s the lowest rate since the founding of America. It is also the first time since 1937 that the population grew by fewer than 1 million people.
The bureau says that population estimates are made up of a population base, plus birth, minus deaths, plus migration.
The bureau, therefore, pointed at several causes for the severe decrease in growth, including decreased net international migration. Net migration is a major component of the blanking equation and is divided into two categories, net domestic migration, and net international migration.
The new population estimates show that the pandemic disrupted migration across borders significantly, both into and out of the U.S. This has resulted in the lowest levels of international migration in decades. Between 2015 and 2016, there was a high of 1,049,000 added to the population.
From 2020 to 2021, only 247,000 were added to the nation’s population. The closing of borders played a huge role in this decrease.
Another cause of the slowest rate ever is increased mortality. The Covid pandemic is taking part of the blame. Deaths from an aging population were part of the mortality rate, and hundreds of thousand of Covid deaths significantly punctured the population as well.
A drop in fertility rates was also recorded, adding to the low number.
The Census Bureau said that population growth has been slowing for years, and this is due to lower birth rates and decreasing net international migration, combined with a rise in mortality rate from an aging population.
Experts say this extreme low is concerning for many reasons, including that it could affect labor forces down the road.
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