California's population grew for the first time since 2020

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California’s population saw an increase, marking a reversal from three years of declines, according to new state figures released on Tuesday.

The state’s population grew by more than 67,000 people last year, bringing the total to 39,128,162, the California Department of Finance (DOF) said.

The governor’s office attributed the increase to post-pandemic declines in mortality figures as well as an influx of legal immigrants coming into the state.

"With the improvement of federal legal immigration processing backlogs, rebounding legal immigration levels – not including people seeking asylum at the border – and mortality rates returning to long-term trends, a stable foundation for continued growth has returned," Governor Gavin Newsom said in a news release.

Figures also showed that the number of people migrating from California dropped last year to roughly a fourth of its rate in 2021.

Five Bay Area counties: Contra Costa, Napa, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Solano, were among the 31 counties statewide that saw increases, according to the DOF.

SEE ALSO: 20 least affordable US cities are in California: study

The department of finance also looked at housing supplies in the state and found a 0.79 percent increase last year compared to the previous year.

Emeryville was the only Bay Area city that made the list of top five California cities where housing production drove population growth, the DOF said.

State officials said California, the world's fifth-largest economy, was expected to see continued population increases.

"From the Inland Empire to the Bay Area," Newsom said, "regions throughout California are growing – strengthening local communities and boosting our state’s future.