The United States saw an increase in the white and Asian population last year thanks to immigration.

Without immigration, America’s white population would have declined last year.

Immigration also fueled an expanding population of Asians, the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in the United States last year, with births outstripping deaths in the Hispanic, Black, Tribal and Hawaiian populations. promoted an increase in

Population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday accounted for the factors that have caused various races, ethnicities and age groups to change last year and since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the United States in April 2020. showing. The country’s population had grown to 333.2 million. By the middle of last year, it had increased by 0.4% year-on-year, according to 2022 population projections.

For whites living in the United States, immigration facilitated expansion. Without it, the white population, including those who identify as more than one race, would have increased by more than 388,000 (0.1%) last year, while falling by more than 85,000.

Focusing on whites who identified as monoracial instead of Hispanic, the white population fell by more than 668,000 as immigration numbers failed to overcome the sharp decline in natural attrition. There were more deaths than last year’s births.

Population growth is driven in two ways. One is due to immigration and the other is natural increase, where births outnumber deaths. The data released Thursday speaks to the complexity of the country’s ever-changing demographic patterns, underscoring a level of nuance not always reflected in the political debate around immigration.

“Immigrant and refugee communities bring the talent, culture and set of skills that our communities need,” said president of the St. Louis Institute of International Studies, which helps newcomers adjust to life in the United States. Alley Obenson, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Executive Officer, said.

Since the pandemic began in April 2020, the white population has grown by 391,000, all of which has come from immigration.

Hamdullah Hamdad moved to St. Louis in September 2021 from Afghanistan, where he ran a media production company, after Taliban threats and deteriorating conditions made him unsafe for his wife, son, brother, and parents. He founded a production company in St. Louis, runs a news agency for the local Afghan community, and is communications manager at the St. Louis International Institute.

“I can start my own business again and follow the dream I had in Afghanistan,” Hamdard, 31, said Wednesday.

Last year, 260.5 million people in the United States identified as white, including those who identify as multiple races. Phoenix’s home county, Maricopa County, saw the largest increase in white population of any county, adding more than 35,000 new white residents last year. Arizona’s largest counties made the most profits. Total population Internal migration will add about 57,000 new residents in 2022, more than any other county in the United States.

Immigrants also drove growth in Asia last year, accounting for two-thirds of the 577,000 increase in the number of people who identify as Asian, including those who identify as multiracial. The 2.4% increase is the largest of any race or ethnicity, with 24.6 million Asians in the United States last year.

King County, Washington, where Seattle is located, added about 21,500 Asian residents last year, the most of any county in the United States.

The Hispanic population in the United States grew by more than one million last year, the largest increase in pure numbers of any racial or ethnic group. Two-thirds of that expansion came from natural increases, where births outnumbered deaths. More than 63.3 million people identified as Hispanic last year, up 1.7% from the previous year.

The largest pure increase in Hispanic population was in Harris County, Texas, where Houston is located, adding about 35,000 Latino residents last year.

Nearly two-thirds of the black population growth of 436,000 last year was due to natural increase, up 0.9% from the previous year. In 2022, the black population was 50 million. Harris County, Texas had the largest increase in the number of black residents of any U.S. county, with approximately 23,000 residents.

Last year, the Native American and Alaska Native population was 7.2 million, an increase of more than 93,000 (1.3%). Maricopa County, Arizona, saw the largest increase with over 3,100 new residents.

There were more than 1.7 million Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders in the United States last year, up 1.2% from the previous year. Clark County, Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, saw the largest increase, with about 1,500 new residents.

Last year, the U.S. median age increased by 0.2 years to 38.9 from 2021 to 2022, driven by an aging baby boomer and millennial population. Sumter County, Florida, home to a large retirement community, had the highest median age in the United States at her 68.1.

“Without a rapidly growing young population, the average age in the United States will continue to rise slowly but surely,” said Christie Wilder, Census Bureau demographer.