US population to start shrinking after 2056, CBO says

Published January 7, 2026 3:39pm ET



The U.S. population is expected to begin shrinking by 2056 due to decreasing birth rates and immigration, according to projections over the next 30 years from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office

The CBO’s thirty-year demographic report, published Wednesday, projects that the population will increase slightly over the next three decades, due largely to immigration, but will level off and begin to shrink in 2056.

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