US Population Hits 342 Million as Growth Slows to 0.5%

The United States population grew to nearly 342 million in 2025, with the annual growth rate falling to 0.5 percent, according to new estimates from the Census Bureau.

The figures mark a sharp slowdown from 2024, when the population expanded by close to 1 percent, the fastest pace in more than 20 years. Immigration accounted for 1.3 million additional residents in 2025, less than half the 2.8 million increase recorded the previous year. The Census Bureau does not separate legal and undocumented migration in its estimates.

The decline coincides with renewed immigration restrictions introduced after President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. The data suggest a significant reduction in arrivals alongside an increase in departures.

The 2025 growth rate ranks among the weakest in modern US history. Only 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, recorded a lower rate, at 0.16 percent, amid global travel limits and domestic health measures. Before that, population growth last fell below 0.5 percent in 1919, during the Spanish flu pandemic.

By contrast, 2024 saw unusually strong growth driven by international migration. Net migration accounted for 84 percent of the 3.3 million population increase that year, supported by updated counting methods that included humanitarian admissions. The reversal in 2025 represents a clear shift from those recent trends.

The estimates cover the final months of President Joe Biden’s administration and the first six months of Trump’s second term. The data reflect stepped-up enforcement actions in cities such as Los Angeles and Portland, though they do not yet include later operations in Chicago, New Orleans, Memphis, and Minneapolis.

Immigration enforcement was a central issue in Trump’s 2024 campaign. Eric Jensen, a senior researcher at the Census Bureau, said the figures reflect “recent trends we have seen in out-migration, where the numbers of people coming in is down and the numbers going out is up”.

The release of the estimates was delayed by last year’s federal government shutdown. The Census Bureau has also faced staffing pressures, losing about 15 per cent of its workforce through buyouts and layoffs linked to federal cost-cutting measures.

Concerns about political influence on federal statistics have increased following the dismissal of Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer. However, analysts caution against assuming the Census Bureau’s data have been compromised. William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, said the agency’s staff continue to work professionally and that there is no reason to doubt the figures.