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For the first time in Michigan’s recorded history, deaths outpaced births in 2020 — a situation worsened by the wave of deaths from COVID-19, said Kurt Metzger, a demographer who founded Data Driven Detroit and studies Michigan population trends.
In the first year of the pandemic, 104,149 babies were born in Michigan but 117,087 people died in the state, Metzger said — a difference of 12,938.
“Looking at those numbers, I just said, ‘Whoa! Here we are,’ ” said Metzger, who used data from the state health department to make the analysis. “It’s the first time we’ve ever seen more deaths than births, which is kind of frightening.”
Among them were 11,362 Michigan residents who died from COVID-19, according to the state health department’s 2020 mortality data, which counts only people for whom COVID-19 was listed as the underlying cause of death.
