LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The population of California grew last year for the first time since 2020, thanks to a drop in mortality and a rebound in legal foreign immigration, the state's Department of Finance said on Tuesday.
The population rose by 67,000 people or 0.17 percent in 2023 to a total of 39,128,162, the highest of any U.S. state.
Foreign legal immigration produced a net gain of 114,200 people in 2023, compared to 90,300 in 2022.
There were 118,400 more births than deaths in 2023, a rise from 106,700 in 2022 as the number of deaths declined from their COVID pandemic peak.
"With immigration processing backlogs largely eliminated and deaths returning to long-term trends, a stable foundation for continued growth has returned," the department said in a statement.
Domestic migration out of California also slowed, with the state's net domestic migration in 2023 dropping in two years to roughly one-fourth of its rate in 2021.
In a state plagued by lack of affordable housing and a high homeless rate, the department said California's housing growth in 2023 was 0.79 percent for a total of 14,824,827 units.