The North Olympic Peninsula’s population has climbed to 96,000, according to an estimate released by the state Office of Financial Management.

This means the Peninsula has grown by 5,522 people since the 2000 U.S. Census.

The 2006 estimate — based on changes in enrollment, housing, voters, drivers and other data as of April 1 — show that the Peninsula’s population has swelled by 1,600 in the last year.

Most of that growth was in Clallam County, which has an estimated population of 67,800, an increase of 1,000 since April 2005.

Jefferson County’s estimate was 28,200, an increase of 600 in the last year.

Since 2000, Clallam grew an estimated 3,621, or 5.64 percent, while Jefferson has grown by 1,901, or 7.23 percent.

Growth in the North Olympic Peninsula is largely due to people moving to the area from elsewhere.

Deaths outnumber births in both Clallam and Jefferson counties.

The Office of Financial Management does the population estimates every year for the purpose of distributing revenue to local governments. This year’s estimate was released Thursday.

The agency said the state’s population has surged by 120,000 in the past year, pushing the total to nearly 6.4 million.