Louisiana lost 27,000 residents between July 2020 and July 2021. What does that mean for the state’s economy long-term, and will that trend continue?
LSU Economist Dr. Loren Scott told WWL that while population loss is pretty bad for the economy, particularly if it becomes a long-term trend, he doesn’t see that being Louisiana’s future. While some countries are seeing their population growth stall out and reverse due to aging, that’s not what drove the recent loss.
“It’s more a matter of underlining one-time hits that have occurred to this area, really associated with unusual weather events,” said Scott.
That’s still not good news in the short term for many business owners, however.
“If you are a retailer, or you are a service sector provider, a beautician or barbershop, you depend upon growth in population for growth in your sales,” said Scott.
Scott said he doesn’t think outright population loss is a long-term trend for the state assuming the pandemic conditions continue to improve and we don’t suffer another historic period of natural disasters. His forecast for 2022 projects strong economic growth in Louisiana given a glut of major industrial projects which are nearing final approval.
With that economic growth and federal assistance for Lake Charles, Scott said more opportunities will mean less out-migration.
“The most important thing that causes a state’s population to go down if there’s just no opportunities,” said Scott who warned that lack of growth in northern and central regions of the state will likely continue the trend of depopulation there.
