>Are the number of passports issued growing proportional to population growth?
Passports issued as percent of U.S. population:
1974 1.1% 1975 1.1% 1976 1.3% 1977 1.4% 1978 1.5% 1979 1.4% 1980 1.3% 1981 1.4% 1982 1.6% 1983 1.8% 1984 2.0% 1985 2.1% 1986 1.7% 1987 2.0% 1988 1.7% 1989 1.5% 1990 1.5% 1991 1.3% 1992 1.3% 1993 1.6% 1994 1.9% 1995 2.0% 1996 2.1% 1997 2.3% 1998 2.4% 1999 2.4% 2000 2.6% 2001 2.5% 2002 2.4% 2003 2.5%
The recent decline is probably recession-related - note the slowdown around 1990.
Doug