United States vs. Virginia Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction U.S.: 2022 Population = 8,683,619 2022 Percent of State = 2.61% Virginia: 2022 Population = 333,287,557 Attracting and retaining people to live, work, raise a family, and retire underlies the economic vitality of any region. Population growth is both a cause--and a consequence--of economic growth. Patterns of population growth and change reflect differences among regions to attract and retain people both as producers and consumers in their economy. The following graphs offer a broad overview of trends in the pattern of population growth and change of Virginia with comparisons to the nation at large. The data used are those compiled by the Regional Income and Product Divisions of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 1. Figure 1 tracks Virginia's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Virginia's population rose from 4,614,000 in 1969 to 8,683,619 in 2022, for a net gain of 4,069,619, or 88.20%. NOTE: The county and state population totals reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are from the Bureau of Census midyear (July 1) estimates. These estimates may differ from those prepared independently in some states by various agencies and/or universities. Population Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022 Figure 2. Figure 2 portrays Virginia's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's population in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the populations in later years as a percentage of the 1969 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in population growth between regions that may differ vastly in size. Virginia's overall population growth was 88.20% over 1969-2022 outpaced the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the United States Total: 1969-2022 Figure 3. Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the population growth of Virginia is to trace its individual percentage contributions to the United States' total population over time, as shown in Figure 3. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than the United States' population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Virginia's population totaled 2.29% of the United States' population, while in 2022 it totaled 2.61% thereby yielding a +0.31% share-shift.
Virginia Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 4. Figure 4 highlights the short-run pattern of Virginia's population growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 53-year period is also traced on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average. On average, Virginia's population grew at an annual rate of 1.20% over 1970-2022. The state recorded its highest growth in 1987 (2.07%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2021 (0.24%). In 2022, Virginia's population grew by 0.30% Virginia Population: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022 Figure 5. Over the past five decades some states have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 5 again shows the annual percent change in Virginia's population since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022. During the 1970s, Virginia's annual population growth rate averaged 1.44%. It averaged 1.40% in the 1980s, 1.35% in the 1990s, 1.25% in the 2000s, 0.82% in the 2010s, 0.33% thus far this decade (2020-2022). Population Growth: Average Annual Percent Change by Decade Figure 6. Figure 6 compares the decade average growth rates for Virginia noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for the nation. Relative to nationwide population growth trends, Virginia registered above the nation in the 1970s (1.44% vs. 1.10%), surpassed the nation during the 1980s (1.40% vs. 0.95%), exceeded the nation during the 1990s (1.35% vs. 1.23%), exceeded the nation during the 2000s (1.25% vs. 0.95%), led the nation throughout the 2010s (0.82% vs. 0.74%), and exceeded the nation over 2020-2022 (0.33% vs. 0.31%).
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