Alaska’s population dropped by 2,629 people, about one-third of 1 percent, between July 2016 and July 2017, according to Alaska Labor Department data.
That’s because net migration included a loss of 8,885 people while natural increase, or births minus deaths, added 6,256 others.
While this was the fifth straight year of net migration losses, the longest stretch on record, natural increase more than offset those losses until 2017, state labor officials said.
The 2017 population for the Valdez-Cordova census area is estimated at 9,387 people. This census area lies within the Anchorage/Matanuska-Susitna economic region, which gained 158 residents overall, while the Interior lost 1,291 people.
Net migration was found to be negative in all six regions.
The state’s working age population, those ages 18 to 64, declined by 1.2 percent for the fifth straight year, while the 65-and-older group rose by nearly 5 percent. Alaska’s under-18 population dipped by 0.4 percent.
