The population of Bas-Saint-Laurent is growing, but is still ageing. (Archives)
Bas-Saint-Laurent passed the 200,000 inhabitants mark mainly due to an acceleration of population growth fueled by interregional migration.
According to the Institut de la Statistique du Québec (ISQ), the estimated population of Bas-Saint-Laurent on July 1, 2022 was approximately 200,500.
This is a growth of 7, 3 per thousand compared to last year.
Start of the widget. Skip the widget?End of widget. Back to the beginning of the widget?
“This growth rate has also been constantly increasing since 2018-2019”, underlines the ISQ in its latest demographic sheet published on Wednesday.
This population growth is mainly due to migration between the different regions of Quebec.
Beginning of the widget . Skip the widget?End of widget. Back to top of widget?
Net interregional migration of 1,293 people from Bas-Saint-Laurent is lower than in 2020-2021, but it remains higher than in previous years.
The MRC de La Matanie records the highest internal migration balance in the region with 319 more people from other regions of Quebec.
Rimouski-Neigette's balance dropped from 386 to 41 between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.
|
MRC |
2017-2018 |
2018-2019 |
2019-2020 |
2020-2021 |
2021-2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Matapedia |
-105 |
7 |
44 |
202 |
200 |
|
La Matanie |
-36 |
-50 |
114 |
131 |
319 |
|
The Mitis |
-83 |
-8 |
67 |
143 |
117 |
|
Rimouski-Neigette |
105 |
197 |
115 |
386 |
41 |
|
The Basques |
-8 |
-22 |
41 |
146 |
166 |
|
Rivière-du-Loup |
145 |
68 |
153 |
223 |
129 |
|
Témiscouata |
-83 |
9 |
84 |
238 |
220 |
|
Kamouraska |
-67 |
-77 |
101 |
128 |
101 |
Source: Statistical Institute of Quebec
Moreover, the Bas-Saint-Laurent still has the oldest population in Quebec. More than a quarter of the population is aged 65 and over, the highest proportion in the province at 28.4%.
In contrast, the share of those under 20 years is one of the lowest in Quebec at 18.3%.
Bas-Saint-Laurent is one of the few regions where the number of deaths exceeds that births, for a tenth year in a row.
“This is a reversal of the situation for the region, whose population generally tended to decrease since 1986-1987”, adds the ISQ in its demographic sheet.
The drop in births and the increase in deaths have led to a natural decrease in the population of -560 people in 2021, a deficit that has increased over the years.
