By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Although much of the region showed a decrease in population over the last 10 years, all three River Parishes experienced slight upticks in residents, according to numbers released by the U.S. Census bureau Thursday.

Collectively, St. John, St. James and St. Charles parishes experienced roughly a 7.5-percent increase in population, according to the 2010 Census. Population in the region is up from 112,332 in 2000 to 120,806 in 2011.

Of the three parishes, the biggest gain came in St. Charles, which showed a roughly 10 percent increase according to 2010 figures. Population swelled from 48,072 to 52,780.

St. John, meanwhile, experienced a 7 percent increase, jumping from 43,044 to 45,924.

St. James showed about a 4 percent increase in population from 21,216 to 22,102.

The River Region is ahead of the curve compared to the New Orleans metro area, which experienced an overall drop in population of about 11 percent.

Population in the New Orleans area dipped from 1.3 million in 2000 to 1.1 million in 2010.

The state’s population as a whole grew by about 1.4 percent to 4.53 million.