Census Data Shows, US Population Growth, Slowed to a Crawl in 2021.<br />According to census data released in September, the population of the United States grew more slowly in 2021 than in any other year on record. .<br />The U.S. Census Bureau has attributed the record low <br />to the coronavirus pandemic, economic shutdowns <br />and lower numbers of migrants and births. .<br />Al Jazeera reports that in 2021, the U.S. population grew by about 393,000, or just 0.1%, a historic low. .<br />Luke Rogers, chief of the Census Bureau’s population<br />estimates branch said that this rate is slower than during <br />the influenza pandemic, World War I and the Great Depression. .<br />Luke Rogers, chief of the Census Bureau’s population<br />estimates branch said that this rate is slower than during <br />the influenza pandemic, World War I and the Great Depression. .<br />The slow rate of growth can be <br />attributed to decreased net <br />international migration, decreased <br />fertility, and increased mortality due <br />in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Census Bureau, via Al Jazeera.<br />Al Jazeera points out that the census data also showed <br />that the U.S. poverty rate had risen from a 60-year low <br />following pandemic-related economic shutdowns. .<br />The U.S. has also become <br />more diverse as the white population declines. .<br />The U.S. population has been in decline since 2016 due <br />to a variety of factors, including decreasing fertility <br />and increasing mortality among an aging population. .<br />According to the Census Bureau's estimates, <br />births outnumbered deaths by only 148,000, <br />the smallest difference in over 80 years. .<br />U.S. natural increase was already <br />at a low ebb prior to COVID with <br />the fertility rate hitting a new record <br />low each year and deaths steadily <br />rising due to the population aging, Kenneth Johnson, University of <br />New Hampshire demographer, via Al Jazeera
