Virginia's population continued to grow in 2006, reaching 7.6 million in July, but it did so at a lower rate than in previous years, according to a recent annual study conducted by the University's Weldon Cooper Center.
The study found Loudoun County to be the fastest-growing demographic area, with a population increase of 59 percent, followed by Manassas Park City with a 35 percent increase, said Mike Spar, research assistant at the Weldon Cooper Center.
Qian Cai, director of the Weldon Cooper Center, explained that there are three components to population change: birth rate, death rate and migration. Migration is the most complex component as it can change from year to year.
Cai added that the migration factor contributed to half of the Commonwealth's population growth, which appears to be focused in a few specific areas of the state.
"It seems as if most of the growth is funneling into one of three areas: Northern Virginia, the Richmond area and the Tidewater area," Spar said.
Despite the continued population growth, the study also found that Virginia's population is increasing at a slower rate than previous years.
From 1990 to 2000, the growth rate remained at 1.3 percent; it recently dropped to 1.2 percent. This is actually "quite a significant decline," Cai said.
According to the study, 33 counties and cities have experienced a decrease in population, most of which were located in southwest Virginia. Spar said that this region's population decrease is due to a lack of job availability.
"Southwest Virginia is ... economically depressed," Spar said. There is no "good reason for people to go there because they're losing jobs. People move out and their kids are not there to replace them ... you get to the point where the number of deaths exceeds the number of births. Southwest Virginia has been suffering [from] this for many years."
According to Cai, there is nothing alarming about the decline in the growth rate.
As for the future of the state's population, Spar said he does not predict any drastic changes.
"I bet it's going to keep on going at roughly the same rate," Spar said. "I speculate that by the time they conduct the 2010 census, the state will be around eight million."
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