Immigration Turns California Population Loss Around Mario Tama/Getty Images

California reported seeing the largest increase in its population since 2020 due to immigration, after years of experiencing a decline.

The state's Department of Finance (DOF) released a report showing that as of January 1, 2024, California's population was at 39,128, 162 people, adding that this was a “positive population growth.”

This represented a 0.17 percent increase of roughly 67,000 additional people to the state.

“For the first time since 2020, California has once again experienced positive population growth in 2023; driven by decreased mortality and a rebound in legal foreign immigration,” the California DOF said in a statement.

Officials from the California DOF attributed the growth to legal immigration, a reduction in COVID-19 deaths, and natural increases in population growth.

“With immigration processing backlogs largely eliminated and deaths returning to long-term trends, a stable foundation for continued growth has returned,” the state DOF said. “As net domestic migration has receded to its lower rates of the 2010s, California is likely to experience slower but positive growth for the near future.”

The report also found that the state's population increased in 31 counties, including the “Bay Area, Central Valley, and the Inland Empire,” according to a press release from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).

Los Angeles County grew in population size by 0.05 percent, while Orange County grew by 0.31 percent, according to the press release.

“People from across the nation and the globe are coming to the Golden State to pursue the California Dream and experience the success of the world's 5th largest economy,” Newsom said. “From the Inland Empire to the Bay Area, regions throughout California are growing – strengthening local communities and boosting our state's future.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, California lost around 500,000 people, roughly half the state's population.

A Redfin report from February 2023, found that in January, more people looked to get out of San Francisco and Los Angeles than any other metro area in the United States.

The report from the California DOF comes as an unofficial report from Border Patrol officials viewed by Breitbart News showed that Border Patrol agents had encountered roughly 25,000 migrants during the first 21 days of April at the San Diego Sector.

Illegal immigrants living in California became eligible to receive taxpayer-funded health insurance at the beginning of this year.

This came as the state was still grappling with population loss. In December 2023, data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that California's population had dropped by 75,000 between 2022 and 2023.

There were an estimated 38,965,000 million people in the state, still far below its peak in 2019 0f 39.5 million people.

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