As the Hispanic population in the United States grows rapidly, their political influence is expected to increase. Last year, the Hispanic population in the United States increased by over 1.6 million due to immigration and births, accounting for 70% of the population growth rate in the United States. In this year’s election, Hispanics are supporting former President Donald Trump, not President Biden.
Hispanics Accounted for 70% of the U.S. Population Growth Last Year.
According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on June 27, the Hispanic population in the United States was recorded at 65 million as of July 1 last year. From July 2022 to June 30, 2023, the Hispanic population increased by 1.16 million. This increase accounted for about 70% of the total U.S. population growth during the same period. The overall U.S. population grew by less than 1%, reaching 335 million.
The rapid increase in the Hispanic population is due to more than 437,000 immigrating to the United States. The number of Hispanic births exceeding the number of deaths also led to a rapid increase in the Hispanic population.
During the same period, the African-American population increased by about 265,400 and the Asian population by about 466,200. On the contrary, the white population decreased by 461,600 during the same period. As of last year, the white population accounts for about 58% of the U.S. population. This is about 1 percentage point lower than three years ago in 2020.
The rapid growth of the Hispanic population is causing changes across the United States, including in eastern Philadelphia, Milwaukee, western Salt Lake City, and southern Louisville. Over the past year, the non-Hispanic population has decreased in all these areas, but the Hispanic population has increased enough to offset that decrease. The Hispanic population has been growing rapidly in traditionally Hispanic areas like Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida.
As the Hispanic Population Grows, the White Population Ratio Decreases to 58%
An important point to note is that the increasing Hispanic population is relatively young, with more than one in four people under 18 being Hispanic. This suggests that Hispanics will have increasing political influence in the United States over the coming decades.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) pointed out, “The expansion of the Hispanic community is leading the growth of the U.S. population,” and “The increasing Hispanic population is a young layer under 18 years old, so the political influence of Hispanics in the United States will grow more and more in the future.”
The majority of Hispanics in the United States are of Mexican descent. The Hispanic population from Mexico accounted for 58% of the Hispanic population in the United States. Due to the unstable political situation in Venezuela that led to increased migration to the United States, Venezuelans are the fastest-growing Hispanic group. Also, the Hispanic population from Colombia and Honduras each exceeded 1 million for the first time.
Meanwhile, the United States is also seeing an increase in the elderly population as the baby boomer population ages and the number of children decreases.
The population over 65 years old in the United States increased by about 9% compared to 2020, exceeding 59 million. As the birth rate in the United States slows down, the average age of the U.S. population is increasing. Over the past three years, the number of children under 14 in the United States has decreased by 3%, and the population under 5 years old has decreased by 4% each.
