US population growth sees slight uptick from fewer deaths, rebounding immigration in 2023

The United States population increased over the past year as a result of fewer deaths and immigration returning to pre-pandemic levels, the U.S. Census Bureau found.

The country gained more than 1.6 million people in 2023, growing by 0.5 percent to nearly 335 million. That was the largest increase in population growth since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“U.S. migration returning to pre-pandemic levels and a drop in deaths are driving the nation’s growth,” said Kristie Wilder, a Census Bureau demographer, in a Tuesday statement.

From July 2022 to July 2023, births declined, but so did deaths, Wilder noted. Paired with immigration rebounding, the country saw its largest population gain since 2018.

The increase is still relatively low historically, but it outranks the 0.4 percent increase in 2022 and the 0.2 percent increase in 2021.

Eighty-seven percent of the nation’s population growth happened in the South.

The region added more than 1.4 million residents in a year, which the census attributed to migration patterns. More than 700,000 people moved to the South via domestic migration and 500,000 people moved to the area via international migration.

The Midwest and the West also saw smaller gains in population, while the Northeast’s population declined.

Forty-two states and the District of Columbia all saw population increases over the past year. Texas and Florida gained population, while New York and California saw losses, the report found.