The population of the California, which is still the most populous state in the United States, dipped slightly by 117,552 last year, according to a new population and housing data released from the California Department of Finance.
The authority blamed the population loss on a declining birth rate coupled with an increase in deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"As Baby Boomers age, and fertility declines among younger cohorts, the continuing slowdown in natural increase -- births minus deaths -- underlies the plateauing of the state's population growth," the department said in a press release.
"The addition of COVID-19-related deaths, federal policies restricting immigration, and an increase in domestic out-migration further affected population totals," it added.
According to the latest data updated by the state on April 29, a total of 89,582 residents died of the COVID-19 infections.
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