Will there be nearly 70,000 Yukoners 20 years from now?
The Yukon Bureau of Statistics thinks the territory will get close.
It’s preferred projection scenario charts an increase to a population of 67,000 by 2045.
The bureau is basing this figure on a compound annual population growth of two per cent between 2023 and 2030 before it slows to about 1.7 per cent for 2030 to 2045.
As it grows, the Yukon population is also expected to age. The same report from the statistics bureau forecasts the relative proportion of Yukoners over 65 years of age will rise from 15 per cent in 2023 to 21.2 per cent in 2045.
Whether those long-term predictions come to pass or not, the bureau is able to share some firmer figures about the Yukon population from the end of 2023.
The territory’s population as of Dec. 31, 2023, was estimated at 45,980, up 1,458 or 3.3 per cent compared to the end of 2022.
The bureau of stats’ report notes that this is part of a decade-long growth trend that saw the territory’s population balloon by 9,507 people between 2013 and 2023.
Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com