A new report reveals Michigan will lose about 700,000 people in 26 years. It predicts there will be an initial increase in people and then a steep decrease.
Report author Jaclyn Butler with the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics says in addition to people migrating out of the state and lower fertility rates, increasing death rates are contributing to the decline. She adds COVID deaths did play a role in Michigan’s natural population decrease.
However, even though 2020 and 2021 saw the highest annual increases in deaths since the Spanish flu in 1918, she says the pandemic cannot solely be blamed for the decline.
“Michigan was already trending closer toward natural decrease,” Butler said. “That rate of natural increase, where you have more births than deaths, was already slowing even prior to the pandemic.”
The report says death rates in Michigan are projected to increase by more than 35% through the year 2047.
Butler also warns if the trend isn’t reversed, within the next decade it will become a greater challenge for Michigan to maintain the annual level of migration the state needs for its workforce.
