Happy BC Day!

Being as fond as we are of demographic data, we thought a good way to start the long weekend celebrations would be to share some historical and projected population estimates for British Columbia with you  here (and when we say "historical", we're talking about going way back--all the way to 1800). 

After declining steadily through the first two-thirds of the 19th century, BC's population bottomed-out at 32,000 in 1867; fast forward to today, and BC is now home to a whopping 4.69 million residents. Interestingly, while it took BC's population almost 80 years to grow to one million (a level attained in 1946), the two million-person mark was hit only 22 years later, in 1968. By 1986 BC had grown to three million people, and within another 13 years the province's population had grown to four million. 

Because the province's population base is much larger than it used to be, and with the natural process of aging--both out of the high fertility stages of life and into the higher-mortality ones--playing a prominent role in demographic change, future growth is projected to be slower in relative terms than what we've become accustomed to. That said, BC is projected to cross the five million-person mark by 2020, and the six million-person mark by 2036, reaching 6.69 million residents by 2050.

We hope you enjoy our latest viz and have a happy and safe long weekend!