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Quebec’s population grew by 87,000 in 2018 to reach 8.48 million, but the province’s rate of demographic growth is less than elsewhere in Canada.

A report made public Tuesday by the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) found that despite that slight increase, Quebec’s total share of the Canadian population dropped slightly in July 2018 to 22.6 per cent.

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The estimated number of births in Quebec last year was 83,800 compared with 83,855 in 2017. The province’s fertility index stood at 1.59 children per woman compared with 1.6 in 2017.

The fertility index has been dropping since peaking at 1.73 in 2008 and 2009.

The number of deaths in Quebec in 2018 was estimated at 68,600, 2,300 more than in 2017. The increase is in keeping with a general trend upward in the number of deaths as the population ages.

The ISQ noted that the increase in the province’s population is linked with a net gain of 43,000 persons who settled in the province in 2018 (51,100 immigrants who came to Quebec vs. 8,300 who left), a drop from 2017’s net total of 44,300.