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Registrar General Announces Further Results From The 2001 Census

Key results from Scotland's Census in 2001 were released today in two publications: The Registrar General's 2001 Census Report to the Scottish Parliament and Key Statistics for Council areas and Health Board areas Scotland.

Announcing the availability of the results the Registrar General for Scotland, John Randall, said:

The reports highlight a number of key points:

Demography

An ageing population - Of the 5,062,011 residents in Scotland on Census day, 36 per cent were under 30 compared with 41 per cent in the 1991 Census.

Fewer married people - The proportion of the population who were married (including remarried and separated) fell from 58 per cent in 1991 to 54 per cent in 2001. The proportion widowed fell from 10 to 9 per cent and the proportion whose marital status was divorced rose from 5 to 7 per cent.

Households and families

Households are getting smaller - On average there were 2.27 people per household in 2001 compared to 2.44 per household in 1991.

Fewer married couple families and more cohabiting couples- Dependent children were more likely to be in a cohabiting couple or lone parent family than in 1991.

Housing

Large increase in owner occupation - The proportion of households owning their own accommodation rose from 52 to 63 per cent between 1991 and 2001. The proportions varied considerably across Council areas from over 80 per cent ownership in East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire to less than 50 per cent in Glasgow City.

Cultural attributes

More non-Whites than in 1991 - Some 2 per cent of the population of Scotland in 2001 were from a minority (non-White) ethnic group, compared with 1.3 per cent in 1991. The largest number of people, after the White ethnic group, was in the Pakistani group.

More English-born in Scotland - Nearly 13 per cent, or one in eight, of the population in 2001 were born outwith Scotland, an increase from nearly 11 per cent in 1991. Most persons born outwith Scotland were born in England. In 2001, 8 per cent of the population were born in England compared with 7 per cent in 1991.

Census data on religion for the first time - For the first time, the Census asked two questions on religion, religion of upbringing and current religion. For religion of upbringing the largest groups were Church of Scotland (47 per cent), None (18 per cent), and Roman Catholic (17 per cent). The equivalent percentages for current religion were 42 per cent, 28 per cent, and 16 per cent.

Fewer Gaelic speakers - In 2001, 58,650 people aged 3 and over spoke Gaelic compared with 65,980 in 1991 - a fall of 11 per cent.

Illness and health

Large increase in recorded long-term illness - 20 per cent of the population in 2001 indicated that they had a long-term illness, health problem or disability that limited their daily activities or the work they could do, a considerable increase on the 14 per cent reported in 1991.

More poor health in social rented and rent free sectors - The 2001 Census asked a new question about a person's general health over the previous twelve months. Looking at responses to general health with household tenure, the highest proportions of reporting of health 'not good' were found in the social rented sector and in households living rent free (both 18 per cent compared with 10 per cent for all persons in households).

Economic activity

Fewer men in full-time employment - The proportion of males in full-time employment fell from 55 per cent in 1991 to 51 per cent in 2001.

Glasgow City has most unemployed - Relatively high numbers of unemployed persons as a proportion of those economically active were found in Glasgow City (10 per cent) and Dundee City, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire (all 9 per cent), while the lowest rate of unemployment was in the Shetland Islands (3 per cent).

One in ten a carer - A new question on the 2001 Census asked about the amount of time spent by a person providing care or unpaid help to a family member, friend or neighbour because of long-term physical or mental ill-health or disability (including problems related to old age). 90 per cent of the population provided no care while 6 per cent reported that they did provide care but for less than 19 hours a week, 1.2 per cent provided 20 to 49 hours a week and 2.3 per cent provided at least 50 hours a week.

Over a fifth of working women employed in Health and Social Work - The Health and Social Work industry group contained over 20 per cent of all female workers.

Asians more likely to be self-employed - Self employment was relatively high among ethnic groups with Asian origins.

Travel

More households with cars - About a third of households were without a car or van in 2001 - a fall from over two-fifths in 1991.

More go to work by car - 64 per cent of workers travelled to work by car or motorcycle, an increase of 8 percentage points from 1991. The increase in cars and motorcycles was at the expense of travel by bus etc, which fell from 16 per cent to 13 per cent, and other means of transport (chiefly on foot or bicycle) which fell from 20 per cent to 14 per cent.

Educational qualifications

A third have no educational qualifications

- A third of persons aged 16 to 74 had no qualifications recorded in the categories listed against the tick boxes on the form.

Notes For News Editors

1. The reports The Registrar General's 2001 Census Report to the Scottish Parliament (1-874451-70-2 £6.00) and Key Statistics for Council Areas and Health Board Areas Scotland (1-874451-67-2 £6.00) are available from GROS Customer Service (see para 6) and are also available for viewing or downloading free of charge from the GROS website.

2. More detailed results from the 2001 Census in Scotland for areas smaller than council area will be available in March 2003. SCROL (Scotland's Census Results OnLine) will provide free online access the results and this service will be available in March. In addition, the results will also be delivered in a number of printed publications and CD ROMs details of which are outlined in the GROS publication 'Scotland's Census - A guide to the results and how to obtain them' - available on the GROS website.

3. Similar information on the Census results in England & Wales can be found on the Office for National Statistics website www.statistics.gov.uk and results from the Northern Irish Census on the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency's website at www.nisra.gov.uk

4. All 2001 Census results have been adjusted to take account of estimated undercoverage in the Census based on the One Number Census methodology, which used the results of the Census Coverage Survey (more information on the One Number Census is available on the GROS website). Table KS01 in the Key Statistics report includes population figures reaggregated from the 1991 Census which were not adjusted for underenumeration like those for 2001. The 1991 and 2001 figures are not truly comparable. The figures from the 1991 Census are included in KS01 because the table is also available for areas such as 2001 wards for which there will be no revised 1991 figure for comparison and in order to maintain a common format for the table for all types of areas.

5. Information on the distance travelled to work and migration within the UK was intended to be included in tables KS15 and KS24 of the Key Statistics reports, respectively. However, this information was not available at the time of publication and will be provided in electronic formats once available.

6. For further information on the availability of more detailed data and tables, please contact Statistics Customer Services using our Contact Form.