When knitting and using long-tail cast-on, does # of loops = # of cast-on stitches?

I am learning how to knit and have used the long-tail cast-on method. I am working on a scarf that requires 30 cast-on stitches. The first stitch in the long-tail method creates 2 loops, so does that count as 1 cast-on stitch or 2? In the end, should I have 31 loops to make 30 cast-on stitches?