High Level Summary of Statistics: Population and Migration

Improving Migration Statistics
Last Updated: August 2010

Since the early 2000s, and especially since Eastern European countries joined the European Union (EU) in May 2004, migration has played a larger part in Scotland’s demographic change than in the previous decade. So it has become more important to have high quality statistics on migration and the population, for policy development and for planning and providing public services. GROS is part of an inter-departmental effort, led by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), to improve the estimates of migration and migrant populations in the United Kingdom, both nationally and at a local level. The Improvements to Migration and Population Statistics (IMPS) cross-government programme involves:

improving the data available on numbers entering and leaving the United Kingdom;
making effective use of new and existing administrative and survey data sources;
improving local population estimates and projections used in allocating resources and developing services;
improving the public reporting of population and migration statistics; and
establishing a wider range of timely indicators and analysis to inform the evidence base on migration and its impacts on policy and public services.

Within Scotland, we plan to use the improved statistical information thus available, to improve progressively the population estimates and projections which we prepare and publish. This includes:

the development of indicators of migration at Council level and early indications of changes in population trends;
increased accuracy of estimates of migration, thanks to improvements to the design and sample size of the International Passenger Survey;
the estimation of short term migrant numbers for Scotland;
better quality and more comprehensive information of passenger numbers and movements to and from the UK (although not their destination within the UK), from the e-Borders programme; and
Information on non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals intending to work or study in the UK from the Points Based System of migration approval.

Links
Migration estimate methodology

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