US: Hispanics now account for one out of seven Americans and will continue to drive overall population growth for the foreseeable future, posing numerous economic challenges and benefits, according to demographers' analysis of preliminary US census estimates.
High birth rates and rapid immigration helped swell the US Hispanic population to 41.3 million, representing half of the country's population growth of 2.9 million between July 2003 and July 2004, the census figures show.
The Hispanic population grew at a rate of 3.6 per cent compared with the overall population growth of 1 per cent. Following close behind were Asians with a growth rate of 3.4 per cent, totalling 14 million. South Asians - people originating from countries such as India and Pakistan - accounted for much of that growth.
Next were Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, growing at a rate of 1.7 per cent, totalling 980,000 of the population; blacks at 1.3 per cent, totalling 39.2 million; and non-Hispanic whites at 0.3 per cent, totalling 197.8 million of the country's 294 million people.
Of the 41.3 million Hispanics, 14 million, or roughly a third, are under the age of 18, posing a myriad of problems for already overcrowded schools and overburdened government agencies, some demographic experts said.
However, Audrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, said that the young Hispanic population could be a boon to the US economy if the workers were educated and well-trained to help companies compete in the global market.
"Immigration is providing the growth of our labour market," she said.