(Bloomberg) -- The population of Manhattan grew in the most recent period tracked by the US Census Bureau while New York City’s four other boroughs lost residents as the city struggles to rebound from a pandemic exodus.

Manhattan added 17,472 residents in the 12 months through July 1, reversing a loss of 98,505 in the period that ended in July 2021, the Census Bureau said in a report released Thursday. Even with the gain, Manhattan’s population of 1.6 million was still about 98,000 residents below its level in April 2020, a month after the coronavirus was declared a pandemic.

Queens shed 50,112 in population during the most recent period; Brooklyn declined by 46,970; and the Bronx and Staten Island fell by 41,143 and 2,351, respectively. 

Read more: Remote work is costing Manhattan more than $12 billion a year

Most of the increase in Manhattan stemmed from births and international migration, according to the Census Bureau. Domestic migration accounted for just 2,908 additional people. The 2021 population decline was largely due to net domestic outmigration.

The city still has a long way to go to get back to pre-pandemic levels. The total population of 8.3 million is down from 8.8 million in April 2020.

Yet New York City is still a mecca of international migration: More than 54,000 people moved there from abroad in 2022.

(Adds total population of city in fifth paragraph)

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.