Gulf County vs. Florida Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Gulf County: 2022 Population = 15,314 2022 Percent of State = 0.07% Florida: 2022 Population = 22,244,823 2022 Percent of U.S. = 6.67% Attracting and retaining people to live, work, raise a family, and retire underlies the economic vitality of any region. Population growth is both a cause--and a consequence--of economic growth. Patterns of population growth and change reflect differences among regions to attract and retain people both as producers and consumers in their economy. The following graphs offer a broad overview of trends in the pattern of population growth and change of Gulf County with comparisons to Florida and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Gulf County vs. Florida's population growth over 1969-2022. The data used are those compiled by the Regional Income and Product Divisions of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 1. Figure 1 traces Gulf County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Gulf County's population rose from 9,995 in 1969 to 15,314 in 2022, for a net gain of 5,319, or 53.22%. NOTE: The county and state population totals reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are from the Bureau of Census midyear (July 1) estimates. These estimates may differ from those prepared independently in some states by various agencies and/or universities. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 2. Figure 2 tracks Florida's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Florida's population rose from 6,641,000 in 1969 to 22,244,823 in 2022, for a net gain of 15,603,823, or 234.96%. NOTE: The county and state population totals reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are from the Bureau of Census midyear (July 1) estimates. These estimates may differ from those prepared independently in some states by various agencies and/or universities. Population Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022 Figure 3. Figure 3 shows Gulf County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Florida, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's population in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the populations in later years as a percentage of the 1969 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in population growth between regions that may differ vastly in size. Gulf County's overall population growth was 53.22% over 1969-2022 trailed Florida's increase of 234.96%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the Florida Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the population growth of Gulf County is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Florida's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Florida's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Gulf County's population totaled 0.15% of Florida's population, while in 2022 it equated to 0.07% thereby yielding a -0.08% share-shift.
Gulf County Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Gulf County's population growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 53-year period is also traced on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average. On average, Gulf County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.87% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 2000 (14.64%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2019 (-15.97%). In 2022, Gulf County's population grew by 5.96% Gulf County Population: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022 Figure 6. Over the past five decades some counties have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again depicts the annual percent change in Gulf County's population since 1970, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022. During the 1970s, Gulf County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.54%. It averaged 0.92% during the 1980s, 0.99% throughout the 1990s, 2.37% throughout the 2000s, -1.09% in the 2010s, 2.85% thus far this decade (2020-2022). Population Growth: Average Annual Percent Change by Decade Figure 7. Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Gulf County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Florida and the nation. As the chart reveals, Gulf County's average annual population growth lagged Florida's average during the 1970s (0.54% vs. 3.62%), recorded under Florida's average during the 1980s (0.92% vs. 2.93%), amounted to less than Florida's average in the 1990s (0.99% vs. 2.23%), exceeded Florida's average during the 2000s (2.37% vs. 1.70%), trailed Florida's average throughout the 2010s (-1.09% vs. 1.36%), and recorded above Florida's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (2.85% vs. 1.37%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Gulf County lagged the nation during the 1970s (0.54% vs. 1.10%), trailed the nation during the 1980s (0.92% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation over the 1990s (0.99% vs. 1.23%), outperformed the nation in the 2000s (2.37% vs. 0.95%), lagged the nation during the 2010s (-1.09% vs. 0.74%), and exceeded the nation over 2020-2022 (2.85% vs. 0.31%).
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