American births outnumbered deaths in 2025 by 519,000 people as population growth rate keeps shrinking | Fortune

"The 0.5% growth rate for 2025 was a sharp drop from 2024's almost 1% growth rate, which was the highest in two decades and was fueled by immigration. The 2024 estimates put the U.S. population at 340 million people. Immigration increased by almost 1.3 million people last year, compared with 2024's increase of 2.8 million people. If trends continue, the gain from immigrants in mid-2026 will drop to only 321,000 people, according to the Census Bureau, whose estimates do not distinguish between legal and illegal immigration."

"In the past 125 years, the lowest growth rate was in 2021, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, when the U.S. population grew by just 0.16%, or 522,000 people and immigration increased by just 376,000 people because of travel restrictions into the U.S. Before that, the lowest growth rate was just under 0.5% in 1919 at the height of the Spanish flu."

"California had a net population loss of 9,500 people in 2025, a stark change from the previous year, when it gained 232,000 residents, even though roughly the same number of Californians already living in the state moved out in both years. The difference was immigration since the number of net immigrants who moved into the state dropped from 361,000 people in 2024 to 109,000 in 2025."

U.S. population reached nearly 342 million in 2025. The national growth rate fell to 0.5% in 2025, down from almost 1% in 2024, which had been the highest in two decades and was fueled by immigration. Immigration increased by almost 1.3 million in 2025 compared with 2.8 million in 2024; projections show immigrant gains may fall to about 321,000 by mid-2026. The Census Bureau does not distinguish legal and illegal immigration. Births outnumbered deaths by 519,000. The lowest growth rates in the past 125 years were 0.16% in 2021 and just under 0.5% in 1919. California lost 9,500 residents as net immigrant inflow dropped from 361,000 to 109,000, and Florida saw declines in both immigrant and domestic migration.

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