US to become a nation of minorities, figures show

WASHINGTON

The United States will become a nation of minorities in 2043 when whites will cease to make up the majority of the population, as a surge in Hispanics and Asians is set to dramatically change the face of the country, according to U.S. figures that depict an aging nation with slower population growth.

In its first set of projections based on the 2010 census, by the U.S. Census Bureau said the non-Hispanic white population is expected to peak in 2024 at 199.6 million and then slowly decrease, Agence France-Presse reported. Other racial and ethnic groups will meanwhile keep growing. Hispanics will double in numbers to 128.8 million in 2060, or nearly one in three U.S. residents, as will Asians, to 34.4 million or 8.2 percent of the projected total population of 420.3 million. “The U.S. will become a plurality nation, where the non-Hispanic white population remains the largest single group, but no group is in the majority,” said Census Bureau acting director Thomas Mesenbourg.

Minority births fuel shift

By 2060, non-whites will make up 57 percent of the U.S. population, more than doubling from 116.2 million in 2012 to 241.3 million, according to the data, Reuters reported. Racial minorities are now 37 percent of the population, it said. The shift will largely be fueled by minority births that continue to outpace those of whites, the federal agency said.

Peering into its demographic crystal ball, the Census Bureau also projected that for the first time, in 2056, residents of the U.S aged 65 or older will outnumber young people under the age of 18. While the working-age population, between 18 to 64, will keep growing, its share of the overall population will decline from 62.7 percent today to 56.9 percent. The country’s changing demographic mosaic has stark political implications, as President Barack Obama was relected to a second term, in no small part due to his support from 78 percent of non-white voters.