New York, Dec 25 (IANS): More residents left New York State to live elsewhere over the last year than from any other state, according to estimates released by the US Census Bureau this week.

Some 126,355 people chose to go away from the Empire State between July 2019 and July 2020, a dip of 0.65 per cent, preliminary figures showed on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

New York has been losing locals since 2016, but the most recent drop was significantly larger than in past years.

It was also the state with the nation's biggest population decline, followed by Illinois with a 0.63 per cent dip, Hawaii with 0.61 per cent and West Virginia with 0.58 per cent.

Local media attributed the fall to the high living costs and the multiple taxes that the state has levied on constant basis to offset the various burdens the city has endured over the density of population and businesses.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic played a major part in causing the demographic exodus. It has led to 36,876 human deaths so far in the state, the worst in the country.

Overall, the US population grew at the smallest rate in at least 120 years from 2019 to 2020, according to the figures from the Census Bureau. Demographers said that the trend was due to the coronavirus pandemic's toll on the nation.

As of Thursday morning, Covid-19 has claimed more than 326,000 lives nationwide and the confirmed cases have topped 18 million.