Scotland’s Changing Population

14 Aug 2014 04:38 PM

Registrar General’s annual review of demographic trends published - a National Statistics Publication for Scotland 

National Records of Scotland (NRS) published “Scotland’s Population 2013 – the Registrar General’s Annual Review of Demographic Trends”. It is accompanied by a wide range of other statistics on births, stillbirths, adoptions, marriages, civil partnerships, deaths and life expectancy, which appear in the Vital Events Reference Tables, in “Drug-related Deaths in Scotland in 2013”, and in website sections on deaths from certain causes and national life tables.

The report is a compendium that brings together key demographic information from a range of publications produced by NRS. It has been produced annually since it was first published in 1855. It also includes an infographics supplement for the first time.

The Registrar General’s Annual Review of Demographic Trends shows that:

• The estimated population of Scotland on 30 June 2013 was 5,327,700, the highest ever.
• There were 56,014 births registered in Scotland in 2013. This was 2,013 (3.5 per cent) fewer births than in 2012.
• There were 54,700 deaths registered in Scotland in 2013. This was 237 (0.4 per cent) less than in 2012.
• In the year to 30 June 2013, 75,900 people came to Scotland (from the rest of the UK and from overseas) and 65,900 left Scotland (to the rest of the UK and overseas). This gives a net-gain of 10,000 which is lower than previous years.
• There were 27,547 marriages in Scotland in 2013. The average age at which people marry for the first time has increased by around two years since 2003, to 33.0 years for men and 31.2 years for women.
• In 2013, there were 489 adoptions recorded in Scotland. The number of adoptions each year is around a quarter of what it used to be in the early 1970s.
• In mid-2013, there were 2.4 million households in Scotland, which is an increase of around 171,000 over the past ten years.

Among the other information published by NRS is that there were, in 2013:

• 1,100 alcohol-related deaths, 20 (2 per cent) more than in 2012;
• 526 drug-related deaths, 55 (9 per cent) fewer than in 2012;
• 795 probable suicides, 35 (4 per cent) fewer than in 2012.

The infographics supplement is here: www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/at-a-glance/annrev/2013/index.html

Notes To Editors

1. The report can be viewed in full online at 
   http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/at-a-glance/annrev/index.html

Chapters 1 to 8 explain how Scotland’s population changed in 2013. Chapter 9 gives an over view of Scotland at the time of the last census in 2011. Chapter 10 gives some background information on Statutory Registration in Scotland and the role NRS has in this. Chapter 11 examines the effect of First World War on Scotland.

The population figures for 2013 are estimates based on the 2011 Census. 

The other statistics which NRS released are the Vital Events Reference Tables (which can be found via http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-events/general/ref-tables/index.html) and statistics on accidental deaths, alcohol-related deaths, clostridium difficile deaths, drug-related deaths, hypothermia deaths, MRSA deaths, probable suicides and age-standardised death rates (all of which are all available via http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-events/deaths/index.html ) and also new National Life Tables Scotland for 2011-2013 available herehttp://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/life-expectancy/scotland/national-life-tables.html.

The methodology for the calculation of age-standardised death rates has changed to be in line with European recommendations and allow international comparisons. More details are available on the following web page: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-events/deaths/age-standardised-rates.html

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff. National Records of Scotland’s statistics can be accessed at
http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data

Further information about the statistics is available from:

Customer Services,

National Records of Scotland

Ladywell House

Ladywell Road

Edinburgh, EH12 7TF

Tel: 0131 314 4299

E-mail: customer@gro-scotland.gsi.gov.uk