(Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
California’s population dropped in 2020 for the first time in the state’s recorded history.
The Golden State lost 182,083 people in 2020, according to data from the state Department of Finance. State officials attributed the decline to a combination of COVID-19 deaths, a decreasing birth rate, and a reduction in immigration while announcing the figure on Friday.
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Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau announced California would lose a congressional seat because of the unprecedented low growth rate.
The state Department of Finance said that it anticipates California will experience an increase in population next year.
California has experienced an exodus of residents leaving for other states in the last three decades. The high tax burden, regulation, cost of living, housing prices, and homelessness have been cited as the problems motivating many to flee the state. Until now, California’s population outflow was offset by immigration and births.