By Mike Schneider -
The Associated Press
The growth of the United States population fell to its lowest rate since the founding of the country during the first year of the pandemic, as the coronavirus restricted the migratory flow, delayed pregnancies and killed hundreds of thousands of people, according to reports. Figures released Tuesday.
The United States barely grew 0.1%, which means that it
only added 392,665 inhabitants between July 2020 and July 2021
, according to estimates published by the Census Bureau.
The country has experienced slow population growth for years, but the pandemic exacerbated that trend.
Last year
was the first time since 1937 that the population increased by less than a million people.
"I was expecting low growth, but nothing that low," acknowledged William Frey, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's metropolitan policy program.
"It tells us that this pandemic has had a huge impact in many ways and now on demographics," he said.
A large number of people walk near Times Square in New York on August 22, 2019.Bebeto Matthews / AP
When the pandemic is under control, deaths associated with the virus may decline.
However, it
is also probable that population growth will not recover as in previous years due to the decrease in births
.
That will increase the need for younger immigrants, whose taxes can support programs like Social Security, Frey said.
[The 2020 Census shows the first decline in the white population in US history and the growth of Latinos and other minorities]
"We have an aging population and that means that there are fewer women of childbearing age.
We see that younger people postpone having children and are going to have fewer children
," the expert stressed.
The population estimates are derived from the calculation between the number of births, deaths and migrations that the country registers.
For the first time, international immigration exceeded the natural increases that occur when births exceed deaths.
There was a net increase of nearly 245,000 residents due to international immigration, but only about 148,000 as new births outnumbered deaths.
University of New Hampshire demographer Kenneth Johnson described the decline in natural population growth as "staggering", stating that it is the lowest ratio of births to deaths in more than 80 years.
[The White House announces $ 1.2 billion in private investments in Central America]
"Of course, most of this is from COVID-19, but not all of it," Johnson stressed.
"America's natural rise was already at a low point before COVID-19
, with the fertility rate hitting a new record every year and deaths steadily increasing due to an aging population."
Between 2020 and 2021, the demographics of 33 states rose primarily through internal migration, while 17 states and the District of Columbia lost residents.
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The mountainous western states posted the highest year-over-year growth, as Idaho rose nearly 3%, and Utah and Montana rose 1.7%.
The District of Columbia lost 2.9% of its population,
while New York and Illinois lost 1.6% and 0.9% respectively.
Although the pandemic opened to some sectors the possibility of working remotely, data released last month by the Census Bureau shows that it did not cause a large internal migratory flow.