California Business Minute™

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Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

A newly released study by the California Budget Project has illustrated some interesting
demographic trends and forecasts.

By 2020 California is projected to add approximately 10 million people, according to the
study, and the number of residents that are 65 or older will jump by 75.4 percent. Yet, true
to its image, California remains younger than the nation overall.

In 2006, the state’s median age was 34.4, compared with 36.4 in the country as a whole,
and Californians age 65 or older comprised 10.8 percent of the 2006 population, compared
with 12.7 percent in the rest of the country.

California’s population growth has considerably outpaced that of the rest of the country.
Between 1980 and 1990, for example, California’s population increased by 25.7 percent
while that of the rest of the county grew by only 7.9 percent. California’s growth rate slowed
to 13.8 percent from 1990 to 2000, approximately equal to the rate of the rest of the country
(13.1 percent) but the state still added more than four million people, larger than 24 of the
50 states in the nation.

Between 2000 and 2006, the state’s population growth rate remained close to the rest of
the nation, but it is expected to remain low by historical standards through 2020. However,
even at this lower growth rate, California is expected to add about 500,000 new residents
each year through 2020.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.