California’s population dropped by 117,552 residents last year, a dip representing a 0.3% decline, according to data released Monday from the California Department of Finance.
The drop brings California’s population to 39,185,605 people as of January 1, the department estimates. Officials said the 0.3% decline “represents a slowing compared to the 0.59-percent decline” between the April 2020 census date and the end of last year.
“As Baby Boomers age, and fertility declines among younger cohorts, the continuing slowdown in natural increase – births minus deaths – underlies the plateauing of the state’s population growth,” Monday’s report stated.
Officials noted that COVID-19 deaths, federal policies limiting immigration and an “increase in domestic out-migration” impacted the population totals. They also wrote that “continuing federal delays in processing foreign migration” impacted overall growth. Read more…
