MINNEAPOLIS -- Natural increase has become more important than immigration as a driver of Hispanic population growth in the U.S., according to a report published by The Mercanti Group here. The investment banking group’s findings indicate that over the last six years natural increases -- or births minus deaths -- accounted for 50% of the growth in the population of the nation’s Latinos. “As a result of the slowing rate of immigration and increasing number of births to Hispanics women in the United States, U.S.-born Latinos are becoming increasingly significant in the Hispanic market,” said Edgar Mendez, a principal with Mercanti, in a statement. The report noted that Latino Americans shop for groceries 26 times each month, or three times more often than other consumers.

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