Population growth returned to pre-pandemic trends in 2023, according to Census estimates released Monday. The US added 1.6 million people over the year ending July 1, 2023, a population growth rate of 0.5 percent. During the year prior to the pandemic, the US added 1.5 million people.
There are two components to population growth: net migration and natural increases. Net migration is calculated as immigrants moving to the US minus emigrants moving from the US. Natural increases are calculated as births minus deaths. The rebound since the pandemic has been led by increased immigration. In 2019, there were 570,000 net migrants to the US, compared to 1.14 million in 2023.
The US added 500,000 people through natural increases in 2023, about half the pre-COVID rate. There were 3.6 million births and 3.1 million deaths during the year. Since 2021, the number of births in the US has increased by 70,000 per year and the number of deaths has fallen by 285,000 per year.
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