Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) – The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the COVID-19 epidemic aggravated the slower growth of the nation’s population in 2021.

According to Tuesday’s Census Bureau, “The slow pace of growth could be attributed decrease net international migration, decreased fertility and an increase in mortality due in part the COVID-19 panademic.”

2021 marks the first year since 1937 when the U.S. population has grown by less than one million people. This is the lowest number of numeric increases since at least 1900, the Census Bureau’s annual estimates for the population.

According to U.S. Census Bureau Vintage-2021 Population Estimates, the United States population increased by 392,665 or 0.1% in the last year.

The United States has experienced a slowing trend in population growth over the past several years. It is the result of declining fertility and net migration as well as increasing mortality from an aging population.

Between 2020-2021, 33 U.S. state populations increased. The population of 17 U.S. states as well the District of Columbia decreased. The Tuesday figures showed that eleven of the 18 affected areas suffered losses exceeding 10,000 residents.

Luke Rogers, chief of Census Bureau’s population estimation branch, stated that, except for the recent years, which saw population growth slow to historic low levels, there was no slower rate of growth than 1918-1919, during the flu pandemic and World War One.

The figures show that the country’s population has increased by 0.13% since April 1, 2020 (Census Day).

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the official death rate from coronavirus has reached over 800,000.