California's Population Falls For 1st Time In History
SACRAMENTO (AP/CBS13) - California's population has declined for the first time in its history.
On Friday, state officials announced that California had lost 182,083 people in 2020. California's population is now just under 39.5 million, still by far the most-populous state in the nation.
California had shown only very small annual increases for the last several years.
The state's exodus comes after the U.S. Census Bureau also announced last week that California would lose a congressional seat for the first time because it grew more slowly than other states during the past decade.
A declining birth rate, reductions in immigration, and an increase in deaths because of the coronavirus - which killed 51,000 people in California in 2020 - are being blamed for the loss.
The state Department of Finance says it expects California to add population next year.
California has seen more people leave than move in from other states for much of the last three decades. However, that had been more than offset by immigration and births.
The state's population has become a political issue this year in light of the effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, with Republicans blaming high taxes and the governor's policies for people fleeing the state.
Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.