Photo courtesy of National Institutes of Health Right: An infant looks on while taking a drink from a bottle. U.S. Census Bureau data show that New Hampshire is one of only four states in the nation to record more deaths than births from 2018 to 2019.

NASHUA – New Hampshire is one of only four states to record more deaths than births from 2018 to 2019, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data.

“The number of deaths has increased significantly in recent years due to rising mortality among New Hampshire’s growing senior population, but drug-related deaths to young adults are also contributing,” Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy, said on Thursday.

The other states to record more deaths than births are also impacted by the opioid epidemic: West Virginia, Maine and Vermont. In all, 121 more Granite Staters died than were born from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, Census information shows.

However, at the same time, the Granite State’s population grew by about 6,200 residents during the same period.

“With fewer births than deaths, migration accounted for all of New Hampshire’s population gain last year. Most of this migration gain has come because more people are moving into New Hampshire from other states than leaving it,” Johnson said.

Johnson said during the last three years, New Hampshire has gained an annual average of 3,800 people from other U.S. states or territories. Moreover, the Granite State has received a total of nearly 7,000 immigrants from foreign nations through the last three years, he said.

“In a state where deaths now exceed births, migration is critical to New Hampshire’s future,” Johnson added.

Nationwide, the U.S. population continues its decades-long shift to the South and the West. For example, from 2010 to 2018, New Hampshire’s population grew by about 3%, while Massachusetts saw an increase of 5.4%. However, Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island saw virtually no growth on a percentage basis from 2010 to 2018, while Connecticut actually showed a slight decline in population during this period.

In stark contrast, Texas saw its population burgeon by 14.1% from 2010 to 2018. Florida grew by 13.3%; North Carolina gained 8.9%; Georgia increased by 8.6%; and Arizona grew by 12.2%.

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