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 to the coronavirus pandemic, economic shutdowns 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 estimates branch said that this rate is slower than during the influenza pandemic, World War I and the Great Depression.<br />"The slow rate of growth can be attributed to decreased net international migration, decreased fertility, and increased mortality due 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 that the U.S. poverty rate had risen from a 60-year low following pandemic-related economic shutdowns. <br />The U.S. has also become more diverse as the white population declines. <br />The U.S. population has been in decline since 2016 due to a variety of factors, including decreasing fertility and increasing mortality among an aging population.<br />According to the Census Bureau's estimates, births outnumbered deaths by only 148,000, the smallest difference in over 80 years.<br />"U.S. natural increase was already at a low ebb prior to COVID with the fertility rate hitting a new record low each year and deaths steadily rising due to the population aging." Kenneth Johnson, University of New Hampshire demographer, via Al Jazeera
