INTRODUCTION

This report presents preliminary estimates of the population of the United States, by age, race, and sex for July 1, 1967, revised estimates for July 1, 19641 to 1966, and corresponding data for April 1, 1960, the date of the most recent census. Estimates for three concepts of population coverage are presented: the total population including Armed Forces overseas, the total resident population, and the civilian resident population. The total resident population conforms to the United States population for which the principal tabulations are made for the decennial census reports. It includes residents of the 50 States and the District of Columbia but excludes residents of Puerto Rico, residents of the outlying areas under United States sovereignty or jurisdiction, and other American citizens living overseas. The total population including Armed Forces overseas includes, in addition to the total resident population, the Armed Forces stationed in foreign countries and in the outlying areas but

1An exception is that the Negro estimates for July 1, 1964, are the same as those previously published in P-25, No. 367.

not their dependents living in those areas. The civilian resident population represents the total resident population less the Armed Forces stationed in the United States.

This annual report of the population of the United States by age differs from previous reports in that it shows figures for the Negro population as well as for the total nonwhite population. In some of the detailed tables such as tables 1 and 2, and in some of the text tables, Negro data by age and sex are shown rather than nonwhite data.

INDICATED CHANGES

From April 1, 1960, the date of the most recent census, to July 1, 1967, the total population of the United States including Armed Forces overseas increased from 180.0 million to 199.1 million, a gain of 10.6 percent. Changes, by age, varied considerably from the average for all ages, however (table A). Particularly noteworthy is the decrease in the age group under 5 years old, reflecting the recent decline in births. The most rapidly growing age groups are those containing persons born in the decade of the "baby boom" following World War II.

1

In the year ending July 1, 1967, the total population increased by only 2,198,000, or 1.01 percent. This rate of population growth is less than the 1.20 percent for the previous fiscal year and continues a series of successively lower annual growth rates since 1957, when the percent of population growth was 1.82 percent (figure 2). 2 Recent decreases in the number of births, the major component affecting population change, have caused a decline in growth for both the white and nonwhite population. Currently the crude birth rate, the number of births per 1,000 of the population, is near the level of the mid-1930's. Nevertheless, a significant event in population growth occurred in November 1967, when the total population including Armed Forces overseas reached 200 million. 3

Age composition.--The age composition of the population by sex for 1960 and 1967 appears in the population pyramid on the cover (figure 1). The number of children under 5 decreased by 5.6 percent. The gains in the other ages under 25 are a consequence of the higher annual numbers of births in past periods and show the increasing relative importance of the young in our population. The population of high school age (14 to 17) and the population of college age (18 to 24) grew by 31.0 percent and by 39.4 percent, respectively, from 1960 to 1967. The gain for those of elementary school age (5 to 13) was 13.0 percent. The number of adults 25 to 44 years of age showed no appreciable change, while the numbers of those over 45 years grew at a rate above the average for that period. During the next several years, the age group 20 to 24 will grow the most rapidly. In contrast, during the 1950 to 1960 period, the most rapidly growing age groups had been those under 18 and over 65; the population 18 to 34 years old declined.

An indication of the size of the post-war baby boom and its effect on the age distribution may be seen in the fact that those born in the year just before the beginning of the boom, that is, the population 21 years old in 1967, number 2.8 million, whereas those born one year later, the 20-year-olds, number 3.8 million. The largest cohort ever to be born in the United States, numbering 4.3 million, was born in the year ending July 1, 1961, and is now six years old.

Population by race.--The white population was 87.9 percent of the total population on July 1, 1967; the Negro population was 11.0 percent. From 1960 to 1967, the white population grew from 159 million to 175 million. The Negro population grew from 19 million to 22 million.

Between 1960 and 1967, Negroes increased more rapidly than whites in virtually every age group and especially in those age groups born since World War II (table B and figure 3). For those 14 to 17 years old, the white population increased by 29 percent, whereas the Negro population increased by 45 percent. In the older age

groups, Negroes represent a substantially lower proportion of the population than in the younger age groups, because the birth rate for whites more nearly equalled the birth rate for Negroes in the early years of the century, Negroes have a relatively high death rate, and there has been less immigration of Negroes than whites. Thus, in 1967, Negroes made up 7.2 percent of the population 65 and over, but 15.1 percent of the population under 5 years.

Annual growth rates.--Growth rates by fiscal years for the white, nonwhite, and Negro populations are shown in figure 2.4 The white and nonwhite populations have shown similar time patterns of change in net growth, except for the years during and immediately after World War II, although nonwhite growth rates have been higher than those for whites. Since 1957, however, both populations have shown definite and similar downward trends in the rates of net growth.

"Annual net growth rates for the total population, including Armed Forces overseas, are shown in Current Population Reports, Series P-25, No. 368.