The population of Baltimore, Maryland, has dropped below 600,000 residents, according to U.S. Census estimates published Thursday.

In a statement, Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young (D) said the estimates “are extremely important and help underscore the critical need to get the 2020 Census count as complete and accurate as possible.”

However, Young did not comment on the reasons for the decline in numbers, but said he was focused on getting a complete count for the upcoming census so the city would receive its “fair share” of federal funding.

“I have made boosting Baltimore’s completion rate for the 2020 Census a top priority for my administration. We can’t afford to undercount our population,” he noted.

As of July 2019, Baltimore had an estimated 593,490 residents, according to the Baltimore Sun.

The report continued:

That suggests Baltimore lost 8,953 people, or 1.5% of its population, from the previous year. While the city’s population has been trending downward for decades, it had some small increases during the administration of former Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, standing at more than 623,000 in 2014.