The demography of Scotland includes all aspects of population, past and present, in the area that is Scotland. Scotland had a population of 5,463,300 in 2019. The population growth rate in 2011 was estimated as 0.6% per annum according to the 2011 GROS Annual Review.The Registrar General’s Annual Review of Demographic Trends 157th Edition 2011 , Accessed 10 February 2013

Covering an area of , Scotland has a population density of . Around 70% of the country's population (3.5 million) live in the Central Belt —a region stretching in a northeast–southwest orientation between the major Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and including the major settlements of Paisley, Stirling, Falkirk, Perth and Dundee, in the Central Lowlands (80%). Other concentrations of population include the northeast coast of Scotland, principally the regions around the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness, and the west coast around the town of Ayr. The Scottish Highlands and the island group of Eilean Siar have the lowest population densities at . Glasgow has the highest population density at .

Until April 2011, responsibility for estimating the population of Scotland, as well as recording births, deaths and marriages, was overseen by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), headed by the Registrar-General for Scotland. From 1 April 2011 onwards, the GROS merged with the National Archives of Scotland to become the National Records of Scotland. The new organisation is still required under the terms of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965, to present a Registrar-General's annual report of demographic trends to the Scottish Government. In conjunction with the rest of the United Kingdom, the National Records for Scotland is also responsible for conducting a decadal census of population. The most recent one took place in March 2022.

Historical population Population change over time In the United Kingdom, a census was taken every ten years from 1801 onwards; with the exception of 1941 due to the Second World War. Population data for years prior to that is provided from directories and gazetteersGenuki UK and Ireland Genealogy, Accessed 11 February 2013Webster's Scottish Population Statistics of 1751 edited, updated and reprinted by James Grey Kyd in 1951 , Accessed 11 February 2013 Year Population 1500 500,000 1600 800,000 1707 1,000,000 1755 1,265,380 1801 1,608,420 1811 1,805,864 1821 2,091,521 1831 2,364,386 1841 2,620,184 1851 2,888,742 1861 3,062,294 1871 3,360,018 1881 3,735,578 1891 4,025,647 1901 4,472,103 1911 4,760,904 1921 4,882,407 1931 4,842,989 1939a 5,006,700 1951 5,095,969 1961b 5,179,000 1971 5,229,000 1981 5,035,000 1991c 5,083,000 2001 5,062,000 2011 5,295,000 2022 5,436,000

Notes

a. There was no census in 1941 however there was a National Register of the Civilian Population in 1939

b. Data for 1961 onwards rounded to nearest thousand

c. Data for 1991 mid-year estimate

Age distribution

Ages19011931195119611971198119912001201120220–14 years3327252625.921.418.917.916.115.315–64 years6266656461.864.565.866.267.164.665 years and over57101112.314.115.315.916.820.1Total (%)100100100100100100100100100100

Vital statistics Birth and mortality

Table of birth and mortality since 1900

Average populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000) Fertility rate 1900 4,437,000 131,401 82,296 49,105 29.6 18.5 11.1 1901 4,479,000 132,192 80,107 52,085 29.5 17.9 11.6 1902 4,507,000 132,267 77,941 54,326 29.4 17.3 12.0 1903 4,536,000 133,525 76,002 57,523 29.4 16.8 12.7 1904 4,564,000 132,603 77,981 54,622 29.1 17.1 12.0 1905 4,593,000 131,410 74,536 56,874 28.6 16.2 12.4 1906 4,621,000 132,005 75,635 56,370 28.6 16.4 12.2 1907 4,650,000 128,840 77,296 51,544 27.7 16.6 11.1 1908 4,680,000 131,362 77,838 53,524 28.1 16.6 11.4 1909 4,709,000 128,669 74,632 54,037 27.3 15.8 11.5 1910 4,739,000 124,059 72,268 51,791 26.2 15.2 11.0 1911 4,751,000 121,850 71,732 50,118 25.7 15.1 10.6 1912 4,741,000 122,790 72,340 50,450 25.9 15.3 10.6 1913 4,728,000 120,516 73,069 47,447 25.5 15.5 10.0 1914 4,747,000 123,934 73,557 50,377 26.1 15.5 10.6 1915 4,771,000 114,181 81,631 32,550 23.9 17.1 6.8 1916 4,795,000 109,942 70,640 39,302 22.9 14.7 8.2 1917 4,810,000 97,441 69,483 27,958 20.2 14.4 5.8 1918 4,812,000 98,554 78,372 20,182 20.5 16.3 4.2 1919 4,820,000 106,268 75,149 31,119 22.1 15.6 6.5 1920 4,864,000 136,546 68,179 68,367 28.1 14.0 14.1 1921 4,882,000 123,201 66,210 56,991 25.2 13.6 11.7 1922 4,898,000 115,085 72,905 42,180 23.5 14.9 8.6 1923 4,888,000 111,902 63,283 48,619 22.9 13.0 9.9 1924 4,862,000 106,900 70,357 36,543 22.0 14.5 7.5 1925 4,867,000 104,137 65,507 38,630 21.4 13.5 7.9 1926 4,864,000 102,449 63,780 38,669 21.1 13.1 7.9 1927 4,853,000 96,672 65,830 30,842 19.9 13.6 6.4 1928 4,848,000 96,822 65,271 31,551 20.0 13.5 6.5 1929 4,832,000 92,880 70,917 21,963 19.2 14.7 4.6 1930 4,828,000 94,549 64,285 30,264 19.6 13.3 6.3 1931 4,843,000 92,220 64,229 27,991 19.0 13.3 5.8 1932 4,883,000 91,000 66,045 24,955 18.6 13.5 5.1 1933 4,912,000 86,546 64,848 21,698 17.6 13.2 4.4 1934 4,934,000 88,836 63,741 25,095 18.0 12.9 5.1 1935 4,953,000 87,928 65,331 22,597 17.8 13.2 4.6 1936 4,966,000 88,928 66,749 22,179 17.9 13.4 4.5 1937 4,977,000 87,810 68,942 18,868 17.6 13.9 3.8 1938 4,993,000 88,627 62,953 25,674 17.8 12.6 5.1 1939 5,007,000 86,913 64,413 22,500 17.4 12.9 4.5 1940 5,065,000 86,392 72,775 13,617 17.1 14.9 2.2 1941 5,160,000 89,748 72,558 17,190 17.4 14.6 2.8 1942 5,174,000 90,703 64,963 25,740 17.5 13.2 4.3 1943 5,189,000 94,669 66,733 27,936 18.2 13.9 4.4 1944 5,210,000 95,920 64,603 31,317 18.4 13.5 4.9 1945 5,187,000 86,924 62,655 24,269 16.8 13.1 3.7 1946 5,167,000 104,413 64,605 39,808 20.2 13.0 7.2 1947 5,120,000 113,147 66,200 46,947 22.1 12.9 9.2 1948 5,150,000 100,344 60,979 39,365 19.5 11.8 7.6 1949 5,156,000 95,674 63,488 32,186 18.6 12.3 6.2 1950 5,168,000 92,530 63,996 28,534 17.9 12.4 5.5 1951 5,102,000 90,639 65,778 24,861 17.8 12.9 4.9 1952 5,101,000 90,422 61,510 28,912 17.7 12.1 5.7 1953 5,100,000 90,913 58,878 32,035 17.8 11.5 6.3 1954 5,104,000 92,315 61,380 30,935 18.1 12.0 6.1 1955 5,111,000 92,539 61,645 30,894 18.1 12.1 6.0 1956 5,120,000 95,313 61,792 33,521 18.6 12.1 6.5 1957 5,125,000 97,977 61,143 36,834 19.1 11.9 7.2 1958 5,141,000 99,481 62,065 37,416 19.4 12.1 7.3 1959 5,163,000 99,251 63,061 36,190 19.2 12.2 7.0 1960 5,178,000 101,292 61,764 39,528 19.6 11.9 7.6 1961 5,184,000 101,169 63,928 37,241 19.5 12.3 7.2 1962 5,198,000 104,334 63,189 41,145 20.1 12.2 7.9 1963 5,205,000 102,691 65,521 37,170 19.7 12.6 7.1 1964 5,209,000 104,355 61,039 43,316 20.0 11.7 8.3 1965 5,210,000 100,660 62,868 37,792 19.3 12.1 7.3 1966 5,201,000 96,536 63,689 32,847 18.6 12.2 6.3 1967 5,198,000 96,221 59,523 36,698 18.5 11.5 7.1 1968 5,200,000 94,786 63,311 31,475 18.2 12.2 6.1 1969 5,209,000 90,290 63,821 26,469 17.3 12.3 5.1 1970 5,215,000 87,335 63,640 23,695 16.7 12.2 4.5 1971 5,219,000 86,728 61,614 25,114 16.6 11.8 4.8 2.53 1972 5,223,000 78,550 65,017 13,533 15.0 12.4 2.6 2.27 1973 5,225,000 74,392 64,545 9,847 14.2 12.4 1.9 2.13 1974 5,226,000 70,093 64,740 5,353 13.4 12.4 1.0 1.97 1975 5,227,000 67,943 63,125 4,818 13.0 12.1 0.9 1.90 1976 5,227,000 64,895 65,253 -358 12.4 12.5 -0.1 1.80 1977 5,226,000 62,342 62,294 48 11.9 11.9 0.0 1.70 1978 5,212,000 64,295 65,123 -828 12.3 12.5 -0.2 1.74 1979 5,204,000 68,366 65,747 2,619 13.1 12.6 0.5 1.84 1980 5,194,000 68,892 63,299 5,593 13.3 12.2 1.1 1.84 1981 5,180,000 69,054 63,828 5,226 13.3 12.3 1.01.84 1982 5,165,000 66,196 65,022 1,174 12.8 12.6 0.2 1.74 1983 5,148,000 65,078 63,454 1,624 12.6 12.3 0.3 1.70 1984 5,139,000 65,106 62,345 2,761 12.7 12.1 0.5 1.68 1985 5,128,000 66,676 63,967 2,709 13.0 12.5 0.5 1.70 1986 5,112,000 65,812 63,467 2,345 12.9 12.4 0.5 1.68 1987 5,099,000 66,241 62,014 4,227 13.0 12.2 0.81.68 1988 5,077,000 66,212 61,957 4,255 13.0 12.2 0.8 1.68 1989 5,078,000 63,480 65,017 -1,537 12.5 12.8 -0.3 1.61 1990 5,081,000 65,973 61,527 4,446 13.0 12.1 0.9 1.67 1991 5,083,000 67,024 61,041 5,983 13.2 12.0 1.2 1.69 1992 5,086,000 65,789 60,937 4,852 12.9 12.0 1.0 1.67 1993 5,092,000 63,337 64,049 -712 12.4 12.6 -0.1 1.62 1994 5,102,000 61,656 59,328 2,328 12.1 11.6 0.5 1.58 1995 5,104,000 60,051 60,500 -449 11.8 11.9 -0.1 1.55 1996 5,092,000 59,296 60,654 -1,358 11.6 11.9 -0.3 1.56 1997 5,083,000 59,440 59,494 -54 11.7 11.7 -0.0 1.58 1998 5,077,000 57,319 59,164 -1,845 11.3 11.7 -0.4 1.55 1999 5,072,000 55,147 60,281 -5,134 10.9 11.9 -1.0 1.51 2000 5,063,000 53,076 57,799 -4,723 10.5 11.4 -0.9 1.48 2001 5,064,000 52,527 57,380 -4,853 10.4 11.3 -1.0 1.49 2002 5,055,000 51,270 58,103 -6,833 10.1 11.5 -1.4 1.47 2003 5,057,000 52,432 58,472 -6,040 10.3 11.6 -1.2 1.52 2004 5,078,000 53,957 56,187 -2,230 10.6 11.1 -0.4 1.58 2005 5,095,000 54,386 55,747 -1,361 10.6 10.9 -0.3 1.60 2006 5,117,000 55,690 55,093 597 10.8 10.8 0.1 1.64 2007 5,144,000 57,781 55,986 1,795 11.2 10.9 0.3 1.70 2008 5,169,000 60,041 55,700 4,341 11.5 10.8 0.8 1.77 2009 5,194,000 59,046 53,856 5,190 11.3 10.4 1.0 1.73 2010 5,222,000 58,791 53,967 4,824 11.2 10.3 1.0 1.72 2011 5,255,000 58,590 53,661 4,931 11.1 10.3 0.8 1.69 20125,313,000 58,027 54,937 3,090 10.9 10.5 0.4 1.68 20135,327,000 56,014 54,700 1,314 10.5 10.3 0.3 1.62 20145,347,000 56,725 54,239 2,486 10.6 10.2 0.4 1.64 20155,373,000 55,098 57,566 -2,470 10.3 10.7 -0.4 1.59 2016 5,404,000 54,488 56,728 -2,240 10.1 10.5 -0.4 1.56 2017 5,424,000 52,861 57,883 -5,022 9.8 10.7 -1.0 1.51 2018 5,438,000 51,308 58,503 -7,192 9.5 10.8 -1.4 1.46 2019 5,463,000 49,863 58,108 -8,245 9.2 10.6 -1.5 1.42 2020 5,466,000 46,809 64,093 -17,284 8.6 11.7 -3.1 1.33 2021 5,479,900 47,786 63,587 -15,824 8.8 11.6 -2.9 1.36 2022(c) 5,436,600 46,959 62,941 -15,982 8.6 11.5 -2.9 1.33 2023 5,490,100 45,935 63,445 -17,510 8.3 11.6 -3.3 1.27 2024 5,543,300 45,763 62,291 -16,528 8.3 11.2 -2.9 1.25 2025 5,545,500 45,067 61,726 –16,659 8.1 11.0 –2.9 1.23 (c)= 2022 census results.

Source: General Register Office for Scotland Birth and Mortality statistics from 1900

Current vital statistics + Period Live births Deaths Natural increase January–July 2025 26,319 35,295 –8,976 January–July 2026 26,035 35,342 –9,307 Difference –284 (-1.1%) +47 (+0.1%) –331Source:

Settlements by population

Place of birth Places of birth given by respondents to the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2022 censuses were as follows:

Country of birth1991 Tables L01 to L18: Demographic and economic characteristics > L07 Country of birth20012001 Census for Scotland scrol analyser , Accessed 6 September 201420112022 '2022' > 'All of Scotland' > 'Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion' > 'Country of birth: UV204'Number%Number%Number%Number% 4,849,580 97.0% 4,870,440 96.2% 4,926,119 93.0% 4,884,959 89.8% 4,454,065 89.11% 4,410,400 87.13% 4,411,884 83.32% 4,321,512 79.44% 354,268 7.09% 408,948 8.08% 459,486 8.68% 506,207 9.31% 14,710 0.29% 16,623 0.33% 17,381 0.33% 18,219 0.33% 26,393 0.53% 33,528 0.66% 36,655 0.69% 37,260 0.68% UK part not specified 144 <0.01% 941 0.02% 713 0.01% 1,763 0.03% European Union (EU) Member countries 41,836 0.83% 137,285 2.59% 234,363 4.31% Ireland 22,773 0.46% 21,774 0.43% 22,952 0.43% 22,083 0.41% Other Member Countries (joined pre-2001) 59,031 1.11% Poland 3,623 0.07% 2,505 0.05% 55,231 1.04% 75,351 1.39% Other Member Countries (joined post-2001) 78,254 1.48% Non-UK/EU Countries 320,520 5.89% Total4,998,567 100.00% 5,062,011 100.00% 5,295,403 100.00% 5,439,842 100.00%

The proportion of people residing in Scotland born outside the UK was 10.2% in 2022, compared with 7.0% in 2011, 3.8% in 2001 and 3.0% in 1991. Below are the fifteen largest overseas-born groups in Scotland according to the 2022 census, alongside the three previous censuses.