There were 2,553 live births in the VI in 1980 and 1,649 in 2005 What formula should be used to calculate the percent change in the number of persons living in the VI from 2000 to 2005
Hard to say, but assuming the rate remains constant,
in 25 years, the fraction left is 1649/2553 = .646
so, the annual shrinkage factor is .646^(1/25) = .98267, or a rate of 1.733%
So, p(2000) = 2553*.98267^20 = 1799
1649/1799 = .916, so the population shrank by 8.4% between 2000 and 2005