According to the Census Bureau, population growth in the United States between 2019 and 2020 was the smallest in 120 years. Experts believe the main reason for this decline is the coronavirus pandemic.
Although population growth slowed even before the pandemic due to declining reproductive capacity and immigration restrictions, deaths from coronavirus infection, which surpassed 400,000 by mid-January, “further exacerbated this trend,” according to William Frey, chief demographer at the Brookings Institution. “I believe this data shows us the direction in which we seem to be heading towards a slowdown in population growth in the country,” Frey said. “They tell us how the pandemic is affecting the population of the country.”
Preliminary estimates based on 2010 census data (official results for the 2020 census will be released in 2021) indicate that over the past year, New York has the largest number of residents in relation to other states – 126 355, or 0 , 65% of the state’s population. The population of New York has been declining since 2016, but it has grown significantly over the past year. New York is followed by Illinois (0.63% of the population), Hawaii (0.61%) and Virginia (0.58%).
A ten-year population tally determines the adjusted distribution of seats in the House of Representatives among the 50 states (out of a total of 435 seats). If the preliminary data does not change, then the number of representatives of New York in Congress may be reduced by one seat – to 26. In this case, New York will have fewer representatives in Congress than Florida for the first time.
Newspaper headline:
Demographics and coronavirus