New federal estimates reportedly indicate that immigrants are now significantly contributing to the nation’s population expansion.
The Census Bureau reported on Thursday that the trend of newcomers accounting for 84% of U.S. growth in the year ending June 30 has persisted since the Covid-19 pandemic.
This was stimulated by an increase in both legal and illicit immigration, a declining birthrate, and a death rate that was maintained by an aging population.
The Census Bureau’s estimates incorporate substantial revisions to previous estimates in order to more accurately reflect the immigration surge.
For the most recent year, the bureau anticipates approximately 2.7 million net arrivals. Additionally, the bureau increased its net immigration estimate for the previous year by more than twofold, to approximately 2.3 million.
Immigrants comprise the overwhelming majority of the estimated 8.5 million population growth in the United States over the past four years, according to the agency.
The bureau anticipates that the U.S. population increased by approximately 1% to 340.1 million during the most recent year, which ended on June 30.
According to the bureau, this represents the most rapid expansion since 2001.
A significant portion of this expansion was attributed to states like Florida (467,000) and Texas (563,000). Vermont, West Virginia, and Mississippi were the only three states that were estimated to have experienced a slight population decline.
The South was responsible for 54% of the growth in the most recent year.
The bureau’s statistics are the most recent data point available to federal agencies, economists, and demographers who are attempting to quantify the extent to which immigrants are contributing to the nation’s workforce and increasing the population.
The U.S. has experienced significant growth in recent years due to the influx of immigrants, a historically low birthrate, and a mortality rate that, despite being lower than it was during the pandemic, is still elevated due to the graying population.
Immigrants consistently contributed less than half of the growth in the U.S. population in the two decades preceding the pandemic.
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