 This observation is not unique to the region however, as the population living on the south shore of the estuary, in the regions of Côte-du-Sud, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie, has dropped from 9.3 to 5.4% of the total population of Quebec between 1951 and 1991.This decline is due to structural issues like the rationalization of agriculture and the depletion of the forests, but also to rural flight and a sinking natality since the 1960s.Bas-Saint-Laurent was home to 200,500 inhabitants on the first of July 2011, which represents 2.5% of the total population of Quebec.