, Columnist
America Would Be More Happy With More People
Stagnant population growth in the U.S. hurts not only national economic growth but also the national mood.
Who wouldn’t want to be part of this? (Photograph taken in December 2017.)
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
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It is one of the most worrisome economic statistics of a year that was full of them: In 2021, according to the Census Bureau, the U.S. population grew at the slowest rate in recorded history.
This poor performance was due to slowing immigration, low birth rates, and of course a high number of deaths from Covid. Total population grew by just 0.1%, or 392,665. Even measured in absolute terms, that increase is smaller than during the confluence of World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic.