Mid-2019 Population Estimates Scotland

Last update: 30 April 2020
Next update: June 2021

	Report (PDF 3 MB)		Data (Excel    CSV)
	News Release		Charts (Excel    CSV)
	Methodology (PDF 840 KB)		Interactive Charts
	Metadata             (PDF 126 KB)

Key Findings:

• Scotland’s population is at a record high at 5,463,300 as at 30 June 2019 (30 June is commonly referred to as mid-year). The population increased by 25,200 people from mid-2018, growth of 0.5% which is higher than the previous two years.
• Scotland’s population growth is driven by migration with 30,200 more people moving to Scotland than leaving in the year to mid-2019; +20,200 from overseas and +10,000 from the rest of the UK. Overall, net migration was 9,300 higher than the previous year due to more people moving from overseas and fewer people leaving for overseas.  
• There is no natural growth with 5,600 more deaths than births in the year to mid-2019, a decrease compared with 7,700 more deaths than births the previous year.
• Scotland’s population is ageing. In mid-2019, 19% of the population were aged 65 and over compared with 17% a decade earlier in mid-2009. Over the same period, the population aged 65 and over increased in all council areas.
• Population change varies across Scotland. Three quarters of council areas (24 out of 32) experienced population growth with 8 areas seeing population decline in the last year. Areas facing depopulation are mainly rural and island areas, as well as areas in the west of the country. 

Migration Statistics
Detailed migration statistics providing information on the migration component of population change for Scotland, council areas and health boards.

Open Data
The mid-2019 population estimates will be available as open data within one month of publishing on the statistics.gov.scot website.

Statistical Service in Scotland

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Statistics Customer Services telephone: (0131) 314 4299
E-mail: [email protected]

Lead Statistician: Esther Roughsedge

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