Sen. Bernie Sanders conceded on Wednesday that he hasn't inspired the level of youth voter turnout that he'd hoped he would.

"Have we been as successful as I would hope in bringing in young people in? And the answer is 'no'," Sanders said at a Wednesday press conference.

Young voters overwhelmingly supported Sanders over his competitors on Super Tuesday, but it wasn't enough to overcome older voters' support for former Vice President Joe Biden.

The share of the electorate under 30 declined this year in a host of Super Tuesday states.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders conceded on Wednesday that he hasn't inspired the level of youth voter turnout in the Democratic primary that he'd hoped he would.

"Have we been as successful as I would hope in bringing in young people in? And the answer is 'no'," he told reporters at a press briefing on Wednesday.

Young voters overwhelmingly supported Sanders over his competitors on Super Tuesday, but it wasn't enough to overcome the massive support former Vice President Joe Biden found among larger slices of the electorate, including older voters.

"We're making some progress but historically everybody knows that young people do not vote in the kind of numbers that older people vote," Sanders went on. "I think that will change in the general election. But to be honest with you, we have not done as well in bringing young people into the process. It is not easy."

The youth surge Sanders needed to pull off more wins over Biden just didn't materialize on Tuesday. Biden beat Bernie in 10 of Super Tuesday's 14 primaries.

In Virginia, where Biden clobbered Sanders by almost 30 points, turnout surged from 800,000 in 2016 to 1.3 million on Tuesday, but the portion of the electorate made up of 17-29 year-old voters actually declined. And Sanders won 55% of Virginia's young voters this year — down from 69% in 2016.

A similar phenomenon played out in North Carolina, another crucial swing state, where 17-29 year-old voters declined as a share of the electorate and their support for Sanders dropped from 69% to 57%.

And in Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Massachusetts, and Sanders' home state of Vermont, the youth vote also declined as a percentage of Democratic primary-goers. But in California, Sanders managed to expand the young vote.

Sanders will need a significant boost in youth turnout to beat Biden. The delegate count is currently at 461 for Biden and 404 for Sanders with 1,991 needed to win the nomination.

John Haltiwanger contributed to this report.