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For the first time in the history of the United States, one in every five residents is of Latino descent, revealed a report this Tuesday from the Latino GDP Project of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and California Lutheran University.
According to the latest data from the Census Bureau, the Latino population reached 68 million people in 2024, out of a total of 340 million inhabitants, reported the agency EFE.
This represents a growth of 2.9% compared to 2023, equivalent to two million new Latino residents in just one year.
Latinos faced the extraordinary challenges of the pandemic and were responsible for maintaining the positive natural population change in the United States, stated the report.
In contrast, other populations recorded a net decrease of 1.3 million people during the same period (2020-2024).
Latinos drive the labor market
The report also highlights a historical record in the Latino workforce, which reached 35.1 million workers in 2024, marking a 5.5% year-over-year increase and a 46.5% rise since 2010.
The labor force participation rate reached 69%, well above the national average.
Hard work, self-sufficiency, optimism, and perseverance are characteristics that underlie the strength and resilience of Latinos, explained Matthew Fienup, executive director of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at Cal Lutheran.
A GDP that surpasses major powers
The April report of the same project had already revealed that the Latin GDP of the U.S. reached 4.1 trillion dollars, ranking as the fifth largest in the world, surpassing India, the United Kingdom, and France.
Even during the hardest years of the pandemic, from 2019 to 2022, the economic output of the Latino community grew at an average rate of 4.8% per year, well above the 1.5%
When COVID-19 occurred, many analysts predicted that the economic gains of Latinos would be wiped out. But Latino GDP has continued to grow robustly, stated David Hayes-Bautista, co-author of the report and professor of medicine at UCLA.
During the pandemic, Latinos were severely impacted: between 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 was the leading cause of death in this community.
However, by 2022, the mortality rate had decreased by more than 50%, and Latino life expectancy began to recover.
Before the pandemic, Latinos lived, on average, three years longer than non-Hispanic whites. By 2021, that advantage had decreased to just six months. In 2022, it had already recovered to two and a half years, indicating the return of the phenomenon known as the “Latino health advantage”.
Migration impact and challenges under Trump
This growth contrasts with the decline in the arrival of migrants recorded during the administration of Donald Trump.
According to the Pew Research Center, the United States lost 1.4 million immigrants in the first six months of its administration, marking the first decrease in the immigrant population since the 1960s.
However, the demographic and economic resilience of the Latino community has been key to maintaining the country's dynamism, even in an adverse political context and amid immigration restrictions.
A community that transforms the U.S.
Since 2010, the U.S. Latino GDP grew from $1.6 trillion to $4.1 trillion, and it is expected to remain one of the main economic driving forces in the next decade.
We believe that these same characteristics will continue to drive the growth of the U.S. economy in the coming years, concluded Fienup.
The annual report is part of the Proyecto del PIB Latino, which has been tracking the economic evolution of this community since 2017. It also includes specific studies by gender, region, and sectors of impact, such as the recent report on the GDP of Latina women published in August.
The data is clear: Latinos are not only one-fifth of the U.S. population, but an essential pillar for its economic future.
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