Officials have announced that California's population shrank in 2021 for the second year in a row
FILE People enjoy the beach, Feb. 12, 2022, Santa Monica, Calif. California's population continued to shrink in 2021 as the nation's most populous state posted its second consecutive decline, state officials said Monday, May 2, 2022. California's population declined again in 2021 for the second consecutive year, state officials said Monday, the result of a slowdown in births and immigration coupled with an increase in deaths and people leaving the state.
California's population growth had been slowing even before the pandemic as baby boomers' aged, younger generations were having fewer children and more people were moving to other states. But the state's natural growth — more births than deaths — and its robust international immigration had been more than enough to offset those losses.
That problem is not easily fixed. California has been losing population to other states for 30 years, said Eric McGhee, a senior at the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank. It's one reason why he thinks California is “in a period of stagnation for the foreseeable future.”“California is one of the biggest losers in that calculation. It's hard to see that changing significantly,” he said. “It says something about how hard it is for people to afford living here.