San Francisco, May 3 (IANS): California's population declined for the second consecutive year, bringing the Golden State's total to 39,185,605 as of January 1, 2022, local authorities announced.

The population of the California, which is still the most populous state in the US, dipped slightly by 117,552 last year, Xinhua news agency quoted data released by the Department of Finance as saying.

The authority blamed the population loss on a declining birth rate coupled with an increase in deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic.

"As Baby Boomers age, and fertility declines among younger cohorts, the continuing slowdown in natural increase, births minus deaths, underlies the plateauing of the state's population growth," the Department said in a statement.

"The addition of Covid-19-related deaths, federal policies restricting immigration, and an increase in domestic out-migration further affected population totals," it added.

According to the latest data, a total of 89,582 residents died of the virus.