Posted on: Friday, December 24, 2004

Census ranks state 16th in growth rate

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i dropped out of the list of the 10 fastest-growing states, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but remained relatively high at No. 16.

Hawai'i had an estimated net gain of 14,085 residents between July 1, 2003, and July 1, 2004 — a 1.1 percent population increase to 1,262,840.

As it turns out, Hawai'i probably shouldn't have been ranked as high as it was a year ago, when it was ranked as the country's 10th fastest-growing state.

State economist Pearl Imada Iboshi said the Census Bureau overestimated Hawai'i's natural rate of population, a formula estimating births minus deaths. The bureau apparently used a minority birth-rate formula that reflects the higher rates of Hispanics rather than the lower rates of Hawai'i's largely Asian population, she said.

Imada Iboshi said statisticians in the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism pointed out the problem.

Even with the revision, she said, "reasonable rates of growth" in the economy helped spur an increase, mostly due to newcomers from the Pacific and Asia.

In actual numbers, Hawai'i's 2004 population growth ranked 34th, leaving the Aloha State as the nation's 42nd most populous. The five fastest-growing states were Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Idaho and Georgia.