In answer to your query, EIU estimates, and USA Census Bureau projections.
In 1998, the USA population was 275.7m.
In 2002, it was estimated by the EIU at 287m.
By 2007, it is projected by the EIU to increase to 300m.
The current rate of growth approximates 2.5m per year (according to the EIU).
The source of this information is the USA Country Forecast (November, 2002).
If this continues at a steady rate through to 2050, the USA population will exceed 408m (straight-line extrapolation).
Today (ie: 27/01/03), however, the US Census Bureau estimates the current population of the USA @290,116,198 well ahead of EIU projections, and even further ahead of the Bureau's own published demographic profiling.
With a net gain of "one person every 12 seconds" (source: US Census Bureau), the resident USA population is now increasing @2.63m per annum and accelerating (or 126m through to 2050, assuming straightline analysis, only). This will take the USA population to 416m by 1 July 2050.
The documentary source of this information was: (NP-T1) Annual Projections of the Total Resident Population as of July 1: Middle, Lowest, Highest and Zero International Migration Series, 1999 to 2100
The equivalent projections for 1 July 2002 were: Middle = 280.3m Lowest = 278.8m Highest = 282.1m Zero rated = 276.7m
And for 1 July 2003, the equivalent projections are: Middle = 282.8m (+2.5m) Lowest = 280.6m (+1.8m) Highest = 285.4m (3.3m) Zero rated = 278.1m (+1.4m)
The 1 January 2003 midpoint projections (straightline extrapolation) are (my estimates): Middle = 281.6m (-8.5m variation from current) Lowest = 279.7m (-10.4m variation from current) Highest = 283.8m (-6.3m variation from current) Zero rated = 277.4m (-12.7m variation from current)
However, with a currently estimate population of 290,116,198, and with a net gain of "one person every 12 seconds", this will make for 1 July 2050 projections of: Middle = 404m (or >420m, once adjusted to the January 2003 population base of 290.1m) Lowest = 314m (or >435m, once adjusted) Highest = 553m (or >565m, once adjusted) Zero rated = 328m (or >350m, once adjusted).
The bracketed estimates are my projections. The stated figures are those of the USA Census Bureau.
