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U.S. population growth hits record low, slowed by pandemic

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Updated December 21, 2021 at 4:43 p.m. EST|Published December 21, 2021 at 1:21 p.m. EST
People wait in a line for their turn to receive food at a food pantry in Chelsea, Mass., in November. The coronavirus pandemic drove U.S. population growth to its lowest rate in history, in part due to deaths from the virus and a drop in immigration, the Census Bureau said on Dec. 21. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images)

The United States’ population grew by just 0.1 percent in the past year, the lowest rate since the nation’s founding, according to estimates released Tuesday by the Census Bureau — a slowdown in which the coronavirus pandemic had a major role.

The country’s population increased by 392,665 in the year ending on July 1, 2021. Some of the reduced rate of growth can be attributed to decreased immigration, reduced fertility and an aging population, trends underway before the pandemic. But the pandemic helped push the rate down to almost flat growth.