Scotland’s population growing at lowest rate of any UK nation, census reveals
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Country ageing at fastest rate on record and small rise in population due to inward migration, delayed survey shows.
By Severin Carrell
Scotland’s population has grown at the lowest rate of any nation in the UK and is ageing at the fastest rate on record, according to the first data from last year’s census.
National Records of Scotland (NRS) estimated the country’s total population was 5,436,600 last year. Its increase of 141,220, or 2.7%, was driven entirely by inward migration.
Without people moving to Scotland, its population would have fallen by 49,800 since 2011, as deaths outstripped births. By comparison, overall population rose by 6.3% in England and Wales, and by 5.1% in Northern Ireland.
The data, produced after Scotland’s census drive last year was hit by high abstention rates, showed the country’s population was older than before – a rise partly driven by the post-second world war boom in births.
The number of people aged over 65 was 1,091,000, with a significant proport...
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