2020 was a year of record population lows. Newly released Census Bureau population estimates show record lows in United States population growth, both in 2020 and for the entire 2010-to-2020 decade. California’s population shrank for the first time as far back as records go, with the Census Bureau estimates indicating that California’s population decreased by about 69,000 residents in the year ended July 1, 2020 . The United States is not alone. The population of South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, also fell for the first time in its history in 2020. In fact, the working-age populations of Hong Kong, Japan, Mainland China, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand all peaked back in 2015 and will continue to decline at an accelerating rate in the coming decades. By 2050, the proportion of elderly in their populations is expected to increase to 27% — from just 7% in 1995.