Posted on June 13, 2013

Census: More Deaths than Births Among Whites

Greg Toppo and Paul Overberg, USA Today, June 13, 2013

The USA’s largest population group — whites who are not Hispanic — recorded more deaths than births last year for the first time ever, according to an analysis of Census Bureau estimates out today. The milestone reflects the aging of the white population and lower birth rates than those among minorities.

Between July 2011 and July 2012, an estimated 12,400 more white Americans died than were born, says demographer Kenneth Johnson of the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute. As recently as 2010-11, white births outpaced deaths by 29,600. The figures don’t include multiracial births.

The number of whites still increased slightly last year because immigration more than compensated for the gap between births and deaths. Whites make up 64% of the population and might become a minority by 2050 if current trends continue.

Today’s data show that the USA’s Asian population rose 2.9% last year, much of it because of immigration. Hispanics grew 2.2% and now represent better than one in six Americans. Blacks grew by 1.3% and whites by 0.1%.

Demographers studying the USA’s rapidly growing diversity have long expected that deaths among the non-Hispanic white population ultimately would outpace births, but they didn’t expect it until the end of the decade. Johnson says the economic downturn prompted a “precipitous” drop in births among the group.

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