FOR RELEASE JULY 14, 2011

Changing Pattern of Mexican-American Population Growth

A new report from the Pew Hispanic Center shows that births now surpass immigration as the major source of Mexican-American population growth.

BY D’Vera Cohn

FOR MEDIA OR OTHER INQUIRIES:

Communications Department
202.419.4372
www.pewresearch.org

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Pew Research Center, July 2011, "Changing Pattern of Mexican-American Population Growth"

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Changing Pattern of Mexican-American Population Growth

A new report from the Pew Hispanic Center shows that births now surpass immigration as the major source of Mexican-American population growth.

Births have overtaken immigration as the main driver of population growth among Mexican-Americans, according to a report released today by the Pew Hispanic Center that uses U.S. and Mexican census data. The pattern from 2000-2010 was a change from the previous two decades, when births to Mexican-American mothers in the U.S. were matched or surpassed by the number of new immigrant arrivals.

The birth trend is largely attributable to the surge of immigration from Mexico in recent decades. The report uses data from the Current Population Survey taken by the Census Bureau, as well as Mexican government data on migration of Mexicans in and out of that country. Immigration to the U.S. from Mexico ebbed in the 2000s compared with the 1990s.