By Mariel S. Clark
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Bucking a trend of nearly three decades, the population of Manhattan declined last year, according to new Census estimates.
The borough lost 2,500 people from July 2008 to July 2009, the data showed.
Until the reversal, Manhattan had grown by more than 91,000 residents since the 2000 census. Overall, Manhattan's population has grown to 1,629,054 people from 1,428,536 in 1980.
The economic crisis may have contributed to some of the most recent decline, the New York Times reported.
“Obviously the financial sector is hurting and not drawing the people in that it used to,” Andrew A. Beveridge, a Queens College sociologist who tracks demographic trends, told the Times.
The four other boroughs did not suffer the same loss as Manhattan, instead each gained population from July 2008 to July 2009.
Overall, New York City increased by more than 383,195 people from 2000 to 2009, with Brooklyn, the most populous borough, growing by 101,000, according to the estimates.
The numbers are the last set of estimates based on the 2000 Census as the 2010 Census is underway.
