Interesting question. I lived in Lowndes County for a majority of my life - about 10 years ago. Then, Lowndes county was stagnate, very slow growth - the only major business being the Columbus Air Force Base, Hospital and MUW (MS University for Women). It seemed like the area grew, but grew at such a slow pace. Over the past few years new industry growth has been seen in the area and in the surrounding counties.

The 1990 census for Lowndes County listed 78,774, an increase of more than 15% over the 1980 figures. The city of Valdosta has a population of 41,575.
I do not know that it has dropped recently...