Gloucester County’s population continues to grow slowly while the population of Mathews County is declining, according to population estimates for July 1, 2021 released on Friday.

The estimates are compiled by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia. They are used in budgeting and allocations for localities in the years between the census, which occurs every 10 years.

According to the new figures, Gloucester had an estimated 38,731 residents on July 1 last year, up 20 people from the census count of April 1, 2020.

Estimators also figure the components of change. For Gloucester, they estimate that 160 more deaths than births occurred in the 15 months since the 2020 census, but 180 more people moved into the county than moved away. The difference accounts for the population growth of 20.

In Mathews, the estimators figured a population of 8,495 people on July 1, 2021, down from 8,533 counted in the 2020 census. Components of change were 96 mo...