Hawai'i experienced a slight shift in its racial makeup since the 2000 census, with whites and blacks claiming a higher proportion of the population, according to Census Bureau estimates scheduled for release today.

Asians remain overwhelmingly the largest racial group, accounting for 41.5 percent of the state's population of 1.27 million, said census estimates for July 1, 2005. That compares with 42.1 percent in 2000.

Hawai'i led the nation in percentage of Asian residents and was ranked fifth in actual number of Asians behind four states with much larger overall populations: California, New York, Texas and New Jersey.

Whites comprise about a quarter of Hawai'i's residents and blacks only 2.3 percent, although blacks saw the highest percent change in population of any racial groups, a 27 percent increase.

Meanwhile, the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander population dropped from 9.6 percent of the 2000 population to 8.95 percent. In actual numbers, there were an estimated 1,802 fewer Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders in Hawai'i than in 2000. The drop generally is attributed to people moving to the Mainland due to better economic opportunities and Hawai'i's high cost of living.

In actual numbers, only California ranked above Hawai'i, with 151,648 Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, compared with the Islands' 114,162. Other states with sizeable Islander populations are Washington, Texas and Utah.

Compiling statistics for Hawai'i is a tricky task, since many residents are multiracial. These census estimates cover those who declared themselves as being of only one race, which 80 percent of the state's population did.

The 20 percent of Hawai'i residents who reported they were of two or more races was the highest percentage in the country and third in actual numbers behind California and New York.

The census estimates also show the gender balance in Hawai'i continues to shift in favor of females. As recently as 2002, the federal agency estimated that males outnumbered females in the state by 780. Three years later, the estimates showed females had the edge by more than 3,750.

In 2000, the population split was 50.2 percent male and 49.8 percent female; by 2005 the percentages were virtually switched so that females comprised a little less than 50.2 percent.

When looking at the gender gap by racial categories, white, black and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander males outnumbered females of their own race. But Asian females far outnumbered Asian males, by roughly 34,300.

Jonathan Okamura, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Hawai'i, said the female-leaning data are to be expected for the state's largest racial segment, especially in the older age categories, since women generally live longer than men.

He said the gender data for blacks and whites are skewed by the state's military population of approximately 45,000. The armed forces contribute a lot of males to the non-Asian population, he said, and since young service families regularly ship out and are replaced by other young families, their numbers don't move through the age ranks as civilian residents.

The 2005 estimates also show a growing segment of older residents, as baby boomers enter their senior years. Children accounted for 23.5 percent of Hawai'i's population, down a percentage point from 2000, while members of the 25- to 44-year-old age group showed a decline in both actual numbers and population percentage. At the same time, the 45-and-older groups showed big gains.

The state's median age increased from 37.4 in 2000 to 40 in 2005, the census estimates said.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.