BajaNews - 5-25-2011 at 02:01 PM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/05/migration-fue...
Breakneck growth rates of the 1990s fell by half, Mexico's 2010 census shows
By Sandra Dibble
May 5, 2011
TIJUANA — Fueled by the arrival of migrants from across Mexico, Tijuana's population growth outpaced much of the country's during the past decade,
according to newly released results from Mexico's 2010 census.
With 1.56 million residents, Tijuana is today Mexico's most populous border city, one where more than half the population was born outside the state,
according to the census results.
While the breakneck 5 percent annual growth rates of the 1990s fell sharply to 2.5 percent between 2000 and 2010, Tijuana's rate remained slightly
above the state of Baja California's average 2.3 percent, and well above Mexico's overall average of 1.4 percent.
For this border region, where tens of thousands cross each day to shop, work, study and visit family, the results of Mexico’s 2010 Population and
Housing Census hold significance both for California and Baja California.
“They put a lot of money into our economy in a very positive way,” said Christina Luhn, director of the Mega-Region Initiative for the San Diego
Regional Economic Development Corporation. “We ought to care about their median age, their ability to support their folks with good jobs, whether they
have a youthful economy.”
Data for Baja California, presented last month, paint a multifaceted picture of the state and its five municipalities. Statewide, the census reflects
many national trends in Mexico: an increasing number of households are headed by women, fewer couples are getting married, the fertility rate is
dropping and the median age, 26, is three years older than it was in 2000. The Catholic Church, while still dominant, has lost ground to Protestants
and evangelical Christians, while nearly one in 10 declared no religion.
In terms of household goods, residents of Baja California fared above Mexico's national average. The census showed 97 percent of state households with
television, above the national average of 93 percent. More than 92 percent had refrigerators versus 82 percent for Mexico. Baja Californians were more
likely to have washing machines, 80 percent, than the Mexican norm, 66 percent. They were also more like to have vehicles, 68 percent of households,
versus 44 percent for Mexico.
The new figures, released by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography, known as INEGI, show that Tijuana is the third-largest
municipality in Mexico, surpassing major cities such as Puebla, Guadalajara, Leon, Ciudad Juarez and Monterrey.
“The motor fueling the growth is migration,” said Armando Rogelio Lara Valle, head of the Baja California State Planning Council.
But as migration has slowed, so has the overall growth rate. Rodolfo Cruz Piñeiro, a demographer at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, a think tank
outside Tijuana, said the decrease could be for several reasons. He cited factors such as tighter U.S. control of the border, a less buoyant Mexican
economy and security issues on Mexico’s northern border.
Tijuana’s population figures came in lower than local planners expected, and that is causing concern at City Hall because federal funding for
municipalities is pegged to the number of residents.
Manuel Guevara, who heads Tijuana’s Metropolitan Planning Institute, believes the city’s population is closer to 2 million. “We have a large floating
population, and maybe they weren’t counted,” said Guevara, suggesting that the census may have overlooked migrants who live temporarily in the region
without a fixed address.
Like the U.S., Mexico produces a census every 10 years. It also conducts a less extensive population survey at the five-year mark.
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MEXICAN CENSUS RESULTS
Infrastructure
Percentage of homes statewide …
• With electricity: 98.5 percent, (Tijuana: 99 percent; Mexico overall: 97.8 percent)
• With running water: 95.9 percent (Tijuana 97.2 percent; national average is 91.5 percent)
• With sewage drains: 93.4 percent (Tijuana 97.1 percent; national average is 90.3 percent)
• With Internet service: 35.4 percent, second highest after Mexico City.
• That are unoccupied: 18.8 percent, the highest rate in Mexico.
Social trends
• Education: The average number of years of schooling for people 15 or older was 9.3 years in 2010, up from 7.7 years in 1990. That places Baja
California in eighth place among 32 Mexican states.
• Health care: Rising numbers of Baja California residents have access to public or private health care, from 51.2 percent of the population in 2000
to 69.1 percent in 2010. The average for Mexico is 64.6 percent.
• Religion: 73.2 percent of respondents identified themselves as Catholic in 2010, down from 81.4 in 2000 and 86.1 in 1990. By contrast, the
proportion who identified themselves as “Protestants and evangelicals” rose to 12.2 percent in the 2010 census, up from 7.9 percent in 2000 and 5.3
percent in 1990.
Family
• More than one in four households in Baja California, 26 percent, are headed by women, up from 21.4 percent in 2000. The state ranks fifth in Mexico,
behind Mexico City, Morelos, Guerrero and Veracruz.
• The proportion of the adult population that is married has been falling, while the percentage of unmarried couples has risen.
• Women are bearing fewer children: The 1990 census counted 2.1 children for every woman of childbearing age (ages 15 to 49) in Baja California. The
figure was 1.9 in 2000 and 1.7 a decade later.
• Average occupants per home: 3.6, down from 4.4 in 1990.
Population
• Baja California’s 3.15 million residents accounted for 2.8 percent of Mexico’s total population of 112.3 million in the 2010 census.
• Breakdown by municipality: Tijuana (1.56 million), Mexicali (936,826), Ensenada (466,814), Tecate (101,079) and Rosarito Beach (90,668).
• Average annual population growth rate from 2000 through 2010: Rosarito Beach (3.5 percent); Ensenada (2.3 percent); Tecate (2.6 percent); Tijuana
(2.5 percent) and Mexicali (2.0 percent). By contrast, San Diego County’s population grew at a 1 percent annual rate during this period, according to
the San Diego Association of Governments.
• Ratio of men to women in Baja California: 102 men for every 100 women, a trend explained by the high migration rates as more men than women come to
cross to the United States or find work on the border. In Mexico overall, the opposite is true, with 95 men for every 100 women.
Migration
• Percent of the population born in another state or country: 45.1 overall for Baja California, with the highest rates in Tijuana (52.4 percent) and
Rosarito Beach (49.9 percent) and the lowest in Mexicali (33.9 percent).
• The number of Baja California residents who were born abroad has spiked — from 23,502 statewide in 1990 to 43,355 in 2000 to 122,664 in 2010.
• Number of people that five years earlier lived abroad has risen, from 14,797 in 1990 to 27,531 in 2000 to 57,796 in 2010.
BajaBlanca - 5-25-2011 at 02:22 PM
If anyone is interested in finding out the population of your own town, you can call INEGI in the mornings (they are based in Mexico City and the
morning crew has the wherewithall to access the info.) at:
01 800 111 4634
I called and found out that as of 2010, la bocana has a pop. of 967. which, frankly, was a bit disappointing since I thought we were at 1200
BEFORE the census. our previous census had us at 901 peoples in 2005.
Did you all notice the numbers for Baja Californians born abroad ????? from 27 thousand to 58 thousand in 10 years !! A M A Z I N G.