
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 1, 1994                   TAG: 9405010064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-7   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

VA. POPULATION TO OUTPACE NATIONAL AVERAGE BY 2020

Virginia's population is expected to increase by about one-third over the next three decades - a rate that will exceed the national average, the U.S. Census Bureau says.

A report released recently by the bureau predicts Virginia's population will climb from last year's 6.5 million to almost 8.4 million by 2020.

More than half of the growth will be from people moving to Virginia from other states or countries, including 518,000 immigrants.

For the rest of this decade, the census figures show Virginia's population rising at an average annual rate of 1.23 percent. The national average rate will be 0.99 percent.

Virginia's population should increase at an average annual rate of 0.97 percent during the first 20 years of the next century, compared with a national rate of 0.87 percent.

David Garraty, an economist at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, said the growth should mean more demand for goods and services, which eventually will translate into more jobs.

"In terms of jobs and income, it should be a stimulator," he said.

Christine Chmura, chief economist at Crestar Bank, said the faster-than-average population growth should boost the construction business by assuring fairly strong demand for houses. It also should boost some retail sales, she said.

Chmura said another encouraging sign is a bureau prediction that Virginia will continue to have one of the highest proportions of working-age residents of any state. Virginia had the highest such proportion in 1993 and should rank fourth in 2020, with 1.466 people aged 20 to 64 for every person outside that range.

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB