The population in Gloucester County continues to grow, while the numbers continue to decline in Mathews County.

These statements are based on estimates of the counties’ populations on July 1, 2023, released on Jan. 29 by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.

In Gloucester, the population at last year’s midpoint is estimated to be 39,161, or an increase of 450 residents since the April 1, 2020 Census was taken.

This is a 1.2 percent increase in population over three years.

According to the Cooper Center, the increase of 450 people was driven by net migration (people moving into the county against moving away) of 843 individuals. Offsetting this gain was an excess of 393 deaths over births.

In Mathews, the midyear estimate was 8,376 people, a net decline of 157, or 1.8 percent, from the 2020 Census of 8,533.

The factors of decline, according to the Cooper Center, were 283 more deaths than births, and a net migration of 126 people mo...