Whites No Longer Majority of US Population by 2050

The estimated time when whites will no longer make up the majority of Americans has been pushed back eight years — to 2050 — because the recession and stricter immigration policies have slowed the flow of foreigners into the U.S.

Photo: Whites No Longer Majority of US Population by 2050

Census Bureau figures released Wednesday update last year's prediction that white children would become a minority in 2023 and the overall white population would follow in 2042.

The earlier estimate did not take into account a drop in the number of people moving into the U.S. because of the economic crisis and the immigration policies imposed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The 2050 estimate is one of four projections released that is based on rates for births and deaths and a scenario in which immigration continues its more recent, slower pace of adding nearly 1 million new foreigners each year.

Demographers said that scenario offers the best look for now at the future demographic makeup based on current conditions, rather than other models which assume higher rates of immigration, The Associated Press reports.

A falling immigration rate means a decreased vital workforce to replace the nation's baby boomers, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. "Young people bring new ideas, especially new people coming in from other countries," he said. "They're more globally aware of what's going on."

And, Frey said, the scenarios demonstrate that immigrants are an important part of the U.S. population, particularly in Southern California. The nation is home to more than 308 million people, two-thirds of whom are non-Hispanic whites, The Los Angeles Times informs.

India will become the world’s most populous country in 2025, surpassing China, where the population will peak one year later because of declining fertility, according to United States Census Bureau projections released Tuesday.

After China and India, the most populous countries are, in order, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Russia and Japan.

The worldwide population estimates include more than 11 million people over the age of 90 and more than 326,000 centenarians.

More boys are being born than girls, but women begin to outnumber men among people in their late 40s, New York Times informs.