A New Demographic Surprise for California: Population Loss

State data released on Friday showed that California’s population decreased in 2020, reflecting a decades-long pattern of slow growth.

SACRAMENTO — For the first time in more than a century, California recorded a net loss in population last year, a demographic reversal caused by the deadly toll of the coronavirus and declining immigration and birthrates. The small but startling 0.46 percent drop — a decline in 2020 of 182,083 Californians, or the equivalent of about two Santa Barbaras — was reported on Friday by the state’s Finance Department. Most of the loss appeared to occur in the second half of 2020, during the worst of the pandemic, and after the April cutoff for the 2020 census. H.D. Palmer, the department’s spokesman, said the state’s growth will likely rebound next year as the pandemic recedes and last year’s spike in Covid-19 deaths is no longer a factor.