The Registrar General's Annual Review of Scotland's Population

 

15 August 2008

 

Migration was the biggest contributor to population growth in Scotland's population in the last year.

 

This is one of the key findings in "Scotland's Population 2007: The Registrar General's Annual Review of Demographic Trends" which was published today.

 

Fot the fifth year running, Scotland's population increased in the year to 30 June 2007, reaching 5.144 million - the highest figure since 1983. A small part of the increase was because there were 1,100 more births than deaths. But migration was the biggest contributor to the increase. There were net gains of around 8,800 from the rest of the UK and 16,800 from the rest of the world. Once other adjustments are included, the total increase in the population was 27,300.

 

Duncan Macniven, the Registrar General for Scotland, said:-

 

"Records are being broken. The total population is the highest since 1983. Births are at their highest level since 1998-99. The number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 1,100, the largest natural change since 1992-93. Gains from migration were higher than in any year since our current records started in 1951. The population increase during the year was the highest since 1946-47."

 

Other key points in the review are:-

 

 

For the fifth year running, Scotland's population rose in the year to 30 June 2007 - by 27,300 to 5,144,200. There were around 1,100 more births than deaths in the year to 30 June 2007 - and, in the 2007 calendar year, there were 1,800 more births than deaths. Migration was the biggest contributor to the increase in population, with net gains of around 8,800 from the rest of the UK (including gains from every region of Great Briatin) and 16,800 from the rest of the world. The biggest percentage increases in population during the last 10 years were in West Lothian (+11%), East Lothian (+8%) and Perth and Kinross (+6%). Edinburgh, with an increase in absolute numbers. But more than half of the council areas decreased in population, with the greatest falls in Inverclyde, Dundee City and Eilean Siar, each with a reduction of 6%.

 

 

There were 57,781 births in 2007, over 2,000 (4%) more than in 2006, and highest since 1997. Almost half of births were to unmarried parents. The average age of the mother at childbirth was 29.4, compared to 27.4 in 1991. The total fertility rate rose to 1.73 in 2007, 17% higher than the historic low of 1.48 in 2002 and the highest since 1982, although still much lower than the 1964 peak of 3.09 and the "replacement" level of about 2.1.

 

In 2007, 4 out of 5 births in Scotland were to Scots-born mothers. But Scots-born mothers accounted for a much smaller proportion of the increase in the number of births since 2004 - 2 out of 5, compared with Polish-born mothers who accounted for 1 in 4. The age of mothers in 2007 varied significantly by socio-economic class: for mothers in "managerial and professional" categories, there was a particularly marked peak of childbearing in the 30-34 age group, while those in "routine" and "semi routine" categories were the most likely to have children in their twenties. In the century leading up to the late 1950s, there was a gradual decline in births to unmarried parents, from around 10% to around 4% but, since the 1960s, the proportion has increased steeply and almost half of all children are now born to unmarried parents.

 

 

There were 55,986 deaths in 2007. While this was almost 900 higher than the total for 2006, it was the third lowest total  recorded since the introduction of civil registration in 1855. The 3 most common causes of death were cancer (15,274 deaths), coronary heart disease (9,343 deaths) and strokes (5,333 deaths). The proportion of all deaths from the 3 most common causes has fallen in from 65% in 1981 to 53% in 2007. Of people who died of cancer, more died from lung cancer (4,115) than any other kind. A male baby born around 2006 can expect to live for 74.8 years and a female baby for 79.7 years - an improvement since 1981 of almost 6 years for men and over 4 years for women - but still about 4 years lower than for the best-performing states in the European Union. The total number of suicides and probable suicides in 2007 was 838, a rise of 73 on 2006. There were 272 deaths of children aged under one in 2007, 24 more than in 2006.

 

 

There were 29,866 marriages in Scotland in 2007, almost exactly the same as in 2006 but considerably lower than the typical number of 40,000 in the 1970s. "Tourist weddings" are still an important feature - just over a quarter of the marriages in 2007 involved couples where neither party lived in Scotland. Almost half of these marriages took place at Gretna. About 48% of marriages in 2007 were religious ceremonies and about 52% were civil ceremonies, compared with 55% and 45% respectively in 1997. In 2007, almost 8,000 civil ceremonies (over a quarter of all marriages) were conducted at "approved places" outwith registration offices - an option only introduced in 2002.

 

 

There were 12,773 divorces in Scotland in 2007, 2% fewer than in 2006.

 

 

There were 688 civil partnerships registered in 2007 - 339 male and 349 female couples. That compared with 1,047 registered in 2006, the first full year of the new legal status.

 

 

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