Deaths in the United States are expected to outpace births for the first time within the next decade. This comes as birth rates have hit record lows in the country in recent years.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, projections show that “beginning in 2033, annual deaths exceed annual births.” The office projected that the population of the country will increase from 350 million in 2025 to 372 million in 2055, with immigration becoming an “increasingly important source of population growth”
“Without immigration, the population would shrink beginning in 2033, in part because fertility rates are projected to remain too low for a generation to replace itself,” the CBO wrote in its report. Fertility rates have continued to be lower than the replacement rate, which is 2.1 births per woman.