California lost more than 50,000 residents last year, according to a report released Friday by the state’s Department of Finance, as officials pointed to changes in migration patterns and housing trends impacting overall population levels.
The department described the decline as a “slight” drop, noting it represented less than one-seventh of 1% of the state’s total population.
In a press release, officials attributed a significant portion of the slowdown in growth to changes in legal international migration, which they said were influenced by federal policy shifts.
The report found that legal international migration fell sharply, dropping from 248,400 people in 2024 — the highest level since 2018 — to 126,400 in 2025, a decrease of more than 50%.
State officials said that without those changes, California’s population would have grown by an estimated 66,000 residents.
“Net legal international migration has been a significant driver of California’s overall population, offsetting declines in natural increase — the net number of births and deaths — and net domestic migration from California,” officials said in the release.
Despite the report’s findings, Gov. Gavin Newsom offered a different characterization during a Friday appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” where he stated, “We’ve also seen the last three year population growth — we’ve got to update our talking points.”
Hellbound and Down 