More Hawaii residents moved to the mainland than came the other way, but the state still added more than 10,500 people in the past year ending July 1, according to a census report.
Births and foreign migrants largely accounted for Hawaii’s population boost from 1,408,987 in 2013 to 1,419,561 in 2014, according to Census Bureau estimates released this week.
The state’s 0.8 percent annual growth rate — averaging about 29 new residents per day — scored higher than the 0.7 national growth figure and ranked 20th in the nation.
Still, 33 other states added more people, and Hawaii remained the 40th most populous state in the union as this year’s population increase fell short of gains registered over the last three years, when annual estimated population increases averaged about 15,000.
Nearly 8 in 10 new Hawaii residents were a product of natural growth, or the difference between births and deaths. The remaining estimated 20 percent of Hawaii newcomers represents the difference between those who arrived from foreign lands and those who moved away to other countries.
POPULATION SNAPSHOT
According to an analysis by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Statistics and Data Support Branch, this year’s estimates show the state experienced per day:
>> 52 births. >> 31 deaths. >> 24 more people moving into the state from foreign countries than those moving out to foreign countries. >> 14 more people moving out of the state to other U.S. states than those moving in from other states. >> and nine more people moving into the state than those moving out (including both foreign and domestic movement).
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Domestic migration numbers revealed a net loss of 5,141 residents in 2014, punctuating a trend since the last U.S. census in 2010 that has now seen an excess of 11,000 more people moving from Hawaii to the mainland than arriving from the rest of the country.
And this comes despite Department of Defense census figures showing an increase of about 10,000 active-duty military personnel in Hawaii since 2010, although there was a slight decline last year.
"Usually it is not easy to figure out the exact reasons for the fluctuating migration numbers," said Yang-Seon Kim, Statistics and Data Support Branch chief with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. She added that the figures are only estimates.
Hawaii has shown steady growth in recent years. Since 2010 the state’s population has increased by nearly 60,000. That’s a 4.4 percent increase and a number that tops the 3.3 percent national growth rate.
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CORRECTION: A previous version of this story reported a 0.4 percent increase of the state’s population since 2010.