US population growth slows sharply as immigration declines, Census Bureau says
WASHINGTON (TNND) — Population growth in the U.S. "slowed significantly" during the last year, as it reached its lowest rate since the early COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Census Bureau announced.
The U.S. population increased by about 1.8 million people, or 0.5%, between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025 -- the slowest annual growth rate since 2021, when the pandemic sharply reduced movement and migration, according to the bureau’s Vintage 2025 population estimates released on Tuesday.
"The slowdown in U.S. population growth is largely due to a historic decline in net international migration, which dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in the period from July 2024 through June 2025,” Christine Hartley, who is the assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections at the Census Bureau, said in a news release.
“With births and deaths remaining relatively stable compared to the prior year, the sharp decline in net international migration is the main reason for the slower growth rate we see today," she added.
The Department of Homeland (DHS) shared the release on X. The agency attributed the statistics to President Donald Trump.
"The United States is experiencing NEGATIVE NET MIGRATION," DHS wrote on Wednesday. "In just one year, nearly 3 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. under the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration."
The data shows that slower growth was widespread, with all four major U.S. regions and nearly every state experiencing slower population increases or faster declines when compared to the previous year. Only a handful of states -- including West Virginia and Montana -- avoided the trend.
While overall growth slowed, some states continued to add residents. South Carolina recorded the highest percentage increase -- about 1.5% -- "fueled by a sizeable net domestic migration increase of 66,622," followed by Idaho at 1.4% and North Carolina at 1.3%.
Just last week, DHS announced a new voluntary departure incentive to mark the first anniversary of Trump's second term, as well as his administration’s immigration enforcement strategy.
Illegal immigrants who leave the U.S. on their own will be eligible for a $2,600 exit payment, said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
"Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return," Noem wrote on X on January 22.
The news comes as Trump celebrated the completion of his first year back in office. He said if he hadn’t been reelected, the U.S. would have been destroyed “fairly quickly." He also said that he inherited a country that was "broken" thanks to former President Joe Biden.
But Trump said he took a "mess" and turned it all around for the better.
"We have a lot of accomplishments," Trump said at the start of a news briefing last week.
As he spoke, Trump held up several mugshots and photos of illegal criminal immigrants who were recently arrested amid his ongoing crime crackdown in Minnesota. He said a majority of them are murderers or guilty of other violent crimes.
"These people are all people who came from outside of the country," he said. "They were let in by sleepy or crooked Joe Biden -- whatever you want to call him."
