JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Alaska will house 100,000 more people by 2045, according to population forecasters.
The state is expected to have almost 838,000 residents by the year 2045, a new forecast released Tuesday by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development said.
The state currently has just more than 737,000 people, the Juneau Empire reported .
The projected growth in state population comes as Alaska records a year-over-year population decline.
“There will be continued aging of the population and bigger increases in deaths than births,” said Eddie Hunsinger, the lead demographer on the project.
The state releases a long-term population forecast every other year.
In 2016, the projection was a state population of just under 900,000 by 2045. In 2014, the projection was for 925,000 by 2042. In 2012, it was for 915,000 by 2035.
Hunsinger’s projection is that migration will average -0.1 percent in the long term, and only by beating that average will the state increase its population. As fertility rates decline (Hunsinger is projecting an average of 2.15 births per woman, a fertility rate barely above even), immigration becomes the key driver of population.
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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com
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