Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Slowing Growth Will Not Slow Diversity

The Census Bureau's new population projections forecast much slower growth than had been projected a few years ago. The U.S. population is projected to grow to 399.8 million rather than 439.0 million by 2050--a difference of 39 million people! But this slower growth does not mean the population will diversify any more slowly. Only 46.6 percent of Americans will be non-Hispanic white in 2050, according to the new projections, almost identical to the 46.3 percent forecast by the old projections.

Here are the Census Bureau's latest projections of the size (numerical and percent) of each race and Hispanic origin group in 2015 and 2050:

Asian (alone or in combination)
2015: 20 million (6.2%)
2050: 38 million (9.6%)

Black (alone or in combination)
2015: 46 million (14.4%)
2050: 70 million (17.4%)

Hispanic
2015: 57 million (17.8%)
2050: 112 million (27.9%)

Non-Hispanic white
2015: 198 million (61.8%)
2050: 186 million (46.6%)

Source: Census Bureau, 2012 National Population Projections

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