In the near future, deaths in Minnesota will outnumber the births.
For the state to keep its population numbers up, it will have to rely on fresh blood from outside its borders, according to a new report by the Minnesota State Demographic Center.
"The migration of people to Minnesota will become increasingly important in the coming years," state demographer Susan Brower said in a statement Monday. "As our state ages, migration will become a central factor driving both population and economic growth in Minnesota. It will be critical that our leaders understand those patterns when preparing for the future."
Within the next three decades, for the first time in state history, more people will die in Minnesota than will be born here. When that happens, the report warned, the state will have to rely on migration from other states and other countries to keep the state's population growing.
The numbers don't come as a surprise to the people who have been tracking the state population. Every year since 2001, Minnesota has lost more population than any other U.S. state. Those losses, however, have been countered by even greater numbers of new residents arriving from elsewhere.
Every year an average of 101,000 people move to Minnesota from another state and another 24,000 come from other countries. Every year, 113,000 people -- many of them young workers or recent college graduates -- move out.
Every year for the past two decades, Minnesota has gained more residents than it lost, the report found. But with the massive wave of Baby Boomer retirements approaching in the next few decades, the report concluded, the state is facing a severe workforce shortage by 2040.
The report called on policymakers can figure out how to retain the residents that state has while encourage newcomers to migrate to Minnesota.
