Oregon’s population ticked upward again in 2023, with Central Oregon cities and counties all reporting growth.

But the new population estimates by Portland State University, released Monday, also revised 2022 numbers downward.

The preliminary estimates released Monday indicate that population growth has reverted to expected patterns: Gains in Central Oregon and the Portland metropolitan area, a slowdown in the mid-Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon (except for Klamath County), and losses elsewhere in the state. Exceptions are in Morrow and Umatilla counties, which have grown.

Of Oregon’s 36 counties, 26 of them gained people in 2023 — including Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties — and 10 lost people.

Deschutes County grew by 1.25% from 2022 to 2023, from 206,733 to 209,314 people, according to PSU’s estimates.

Bend grew by 1.5%, from 103,916 to 105,524.

Oregon’s population grew by 0.53%, from 4,267,598 to 4,290,225 people, according to PSU’s estimates.

The estimates by PSU’s Population Research Center are important because Oregon uses them to share state proceeds from liquor sales and tobacco taxes, among others, with cities and counties. Estimates are made final in mid-December.

The 2022 numbers drew unusual attention because they conflicted with estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, which reported that Oregon’s population decreased slightly in 2022 — for the first time in decades. The Census Bureau is scheduled to release 2023 estimates by state in December, and by county in March.

Except for three years in the 1980s — when many timber mills shut down, statewide unemployment rates reached 12% and the state’s economy took seven years to recover — Oregon’s population has increased every year since World War II.

The population estimates also are important because with in-state deaths now outnumbering births, Oregon relies on in-migration from other states for net population growth. The numbers are used by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, which prepares the state’s quarterly economic and revenue forecasts.

State economists discussed the implications of population trends on Nov. 15, when they presented the most recent forecast to members of the House and Senate revenue committees in Salem.

Senior economist Josh Lehner had this statement on the latest PSU estimates:

“Our office’s baseline forecast calls for a modest return of population growth in the years ahead. These 2023 PSU estimates broadly fit that pattern, albeit after revisions, they are slightly below our forecast as it used the previous 2022 numbers as the base, but not enough to really alter the outlook.

“Given deaths outnumber births in Oregon, our state’s population would decline tomorrow without migration. It will be important to track these estimates from PSU and the upcoming Census release to gauge the underlying, demographic fundamentals of the state’s economy.”