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Maine's recent population growth comes entirely from new arrivals, Census data show

Mathieu, a volunteer with the Asylum Application Resource Center, helps a client register for help with her asylum application. Mathieu is himself an asylum seeker from Burundi, and said the clinic helps people overcome logistical barriers like paying for postage and accessing interpreters.
Ari Snider
/
Maine Public
Mathieu, a volunteer with the Asylum Application Resource Center, helps a client register for help with her asylum application in Portland earlier this year. Cumberland County has seen the highest number of international arrivals of any county in Maine in recent years, according to new Census figures.

All of Maine’s population growth over the last few years can be attributed to people moving to the state from abroad or from other parts of the country.

That’s according to new Census data published this spring, which cover the period from April 2020 to July 2022.

During that time, a net total 34,237 people moved to Maine, about 10% of whom arrived from other countries.

The combined total of people moving here pushed Maine’s population higher even as deaths continued to outnumber births in the state.

Every county in the state saw a net increase in international migration during this time. Countries that saw the greatest numbers of international arrivals were Cumberland (1,886), Androscoggin (397), York (377), and Penobscot (318).

That trend appears to be continuing, asmore than 1000 asylum seekers have arrived in Portland since January.