NRS Publication Schedule Changes
NRS Publication Schedule Changes
Future Publications
Details of publications which are now available, but were affected by schedule changes during 2020, can be found below in the section Recent publications.
1. Population by Country of Birth and Nationality for Scottish Areas, 2021 (Updated 16 February 2022)
National Records of Scotland (NRS) has made the decision to cancel our next national statistics publication of Scotland’s population by country of birth and nationality which would usually be out in May. This is due to the impending reweighting of the Annual Population Survey (APS), the data of which traditionally informs the release, which will not be complete until Autumn 2022.
We will inform users once a date for the next release has been set.
2. Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland (Updated on 2 December 2021)
Due to public holidays there will be no publication covering deaths in week 51 on Wednesday 29th December 2021. The publication due for Wednesday 5th January 2022 will be delayed until Friday 7th January 2022. This publication will include data for weeks 51 and 52. Publications will revert back to their usual Wednesday timetable from Wednesday 12th January 2022.
The National Records of Scotland (NRS) has delayed this publication as we await an update from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the classification of COVID-19. We cannot publish these statistics without knowing they will be comparable internationally.
4. Migration Statistics Quarterly Summary for Scotland (Updated on 17 May 2021)
Publication of the Migration Statistics Quarterly Summary for Scotland has been paused while migration statistics are undergoing a transformation programme. Immigration Statistics and National Insurance Number allocations data will continue to be published on a quarterly basis by Home Office and the Department for Work and Pensions, respectively.
5. Mid-2021 Population Estimates for Scotland and Migration Statistics (Updated on 3 February 2022)
National Records of Scotland (NRS) were planning to publish Mid-2021 Population Estimates for Scotland as well as Migration Statistics in April 2022. However, due to further work being undertaken to develop the international migration estimates for 2021, these publications have been delayed. NRS are now currently planning for publication in May 2022 and will update the NRS future publication schedule when a rescheduled date is confirmed
Recent Publications
1. Scotland’s Population – The Registrar General’s Annual Review of Demographic Trends
Scotland’s Population – The Registrar General’s Annual Review of Demographic Trends for 2019 was published in October this year, rather than the previously announced month of August. This was to reallocation of some resources to support ongoing COVID-19 related work, and to ensure that the product going out was of the highest possible quality.
2. Electoral Statistics, Scotland, March 2020 (Updated 1 December 2020)
National Records of Scotland (NRS) had to delay publishing Electoral Statistics, Scotland, March 2020. This one off publication was originally scheduled for 29 October 2020. However, by the middle of October 2020, NRS had not received some of the information that it relies on to calculate all the statistics. As a consequence, NRS has had to delay this publication and was released on 5 January 2021.
3. Deaths from Specific Causes in 2019 - delay in publication of statistics (Updated on 30th October 2020)
- Deaths from Specific Causes, 2019
- Vital Events Reference Tables, 2019 (only the section on causes of death)
- Drug-related deaths in Scotland, 2019
- Volatile Substance Abuse and Helium Deaths, 2019
Summary
National Records of Scotland (NRS) has had to delay publishing its statistics of the causes of the deaths that were registered in 2019, including the numbers of deaths due to (for example) drugs, alcohol and suicide.
They were originally scheduled for publication in June and July (like the corresponding statistics for the previous few years). However, by the end of April 2020, NRS had not received some of the information that it relies on to categorise many deaths as being due to (e.g.) drugs, alcohol and suicide. As a consequence, NRS has had to delay their publication.
The Future and Recent Publications page of the NRS website has now been updated with the revised publication dates.
Further detail
Deaths from unknown causes are investigated by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). Sometimes these investigations require toxicology tests to be undertaken to determine the actual cause of death. For 2019, there have been a number of toxicology tests outstanding, and consequent delays in finalising the causes of deaths.
NRS would usually finalise in April the death registration data to be used in its publications covering causes of death (including drug deaths, alcohol deaths and suicides). At the end of April 2020, there were almost 900 deaths, registered in 2019, with the cause still not known. It is not possible to produce reliable statistics of deaths from some causes when there remain so many deaths with unknown cause. Therefore, NRS could not publish these figures in June and July, as originally intended.
NRS has been monitoring the quality and completeness of the necessary data from COPFS. Based on the information received to date, NRS will now be publishing the delayed publications as follows.
- 24 November 2020 - Death from various causes, 2019
- 15 December 2020 - Drug-related deaths in Scotland, 2019
- 15 December 2020 - Volatile Substance Abuse and Helium Deaths, 2019
4. Covid Publication Plans over the Christmas Period
As there will be limited registration activity due to public holidays over the Christmas period, we have made some adjustments to our publication plans for the weekly report as follows:
Deaths registered in week 51 (14th to 20th December) – Publish as usual on Wednesday 23rd December
Deaths registered in week 52 (21st to 27th December) – No publication on Wednesday 30th December
Deaths registered in week 53 (28th December to 3rd January) – Published on Thursday 7th January (will also include figures for week 52)
5. Healthy Life Expectancy in Scotland, 2017-2019
National Records of Scotland (NRS) has had to delay publishing updated estimates of healthy life expectancy for Scotland and Scottish areas.
This was planned for Friday, 18 December 2020; however, this publication is now subject to delay as more time is needed to quality assure the data internally, and with ONS who are producing estimates for the UK.
This publication was released on 25 January 2021.
6. Babies' First Names, 2020
National Records of Scotland (NRS) has had to delay publishing "Babies' First Names 2020". This was originally scheduled for publication in December 2020. However, due to restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19, a backlog of birth registration data has built up over 2020, which would prevent a comprehensive summary being produced. In addition, NRS is also prioritising resource to the provision of additional COVID-19 mortality analysis over the coming months, alongside the production of other key demographic publications such as drug-related deaths. The full list of “Babies First Names 2020” was published on 23 March 2021.
7. Projected Population of Scotland (2020-based)
A 2020-based set of National Population Projections were planned for publication in October 2021, however, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on various data sources, NRS had to delay this publication and it was released on 12 January 2022.