Census: White population shrinks in diversifying nation

NEW YORK－The number of residents in the United States who identify as "white" has fallen for the first time, according to the latest 2020 census data released on Thursday.

The country has grown more racially and ethnically diverse, and more urban over the past 10 years, according to the Census Bureau.

The "white" population decreased by 8.6 percent between 2010 and 2020, a first since the earliest such data was taken in 1790.

However, it remains the largest group in the country, representing 204 million residents last year, or 61.6 percent of the population. People identifying as white a decade earlier comprised 72.4 percent.

Nicholas Jones, an official working in the bureau's population division, said that improvements on census questionnaires along with a new methodology compared to the 2010 report had largely influenced the results, along with some demographic changes.

The "white and some other race" category spiked 316 percent over the past decade to account for 235 million people.

It is common to define oneself according to ethnic origins in the US, and the census questionnaire specifically asks for race identification.

African Americans represent some 12.4 percent of the population, or 41 million people, a percentage that remained stable over the past 10 years.

The Asian American population jumped 35.5 percent to include 20 million people, or 6 percent of the US population. Native Americans comprise 1.1 percent of the population.

The number of people identifying as Hispanic－specified as an ethnicity, and not a race, on the questionnaire－soared 23 percent, accounting for 62 million US residents, or 18 percent of the total population.

Mark Perry, who is also from the Census Bureau, said the data also shows that population jumps were concentrated almost entirely in metro areas.

Census results are essential to determining the distribution of electoral representation across all 50 US states, along with the allocation of billions of dollars in federal funding, especially for schools and hospitals.

Agencies Via Xinhua