Population: estimates

Scotland

The 2021 estimates for Scotland's population produced by National Records of Scotland (NRS) show that Scotland's overall population stands at 5.48 million: 2.67 million males and 2.8 million females. Chart 1 breaks down the population by 15-year age bands. Children aged 0-14 make up 16% of the population, while 25% of the population are aged 60 & over. 

In the last year, Scotland's population has increased by 13,900 people. 2021 is the 21st year in a row where the population has increased (Chart 2). Between mid-2001 and mid-2021, the Scottish population increased by 8.2% (around 400,000 people), from 5.06 million to 5.48 million.

By NHS Board

When divided into 3 broad age groups (0-15, 16-64 and 65 & over) the percentage of the population in each age group does not vary greatly between NHS Boards, although it is notable that some of the rural boards - Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Western Isles, Highland and Orkney - have lower than average percentages of the "working age population" (16-64) and higher than average elderly populations (Chart 3).

By council

When the Scottish population is divided into three broad age categories (0-15, 16-64 and 65 & over), East Renfrewshire has the highest percentage of "children" (0-15) at 20%, while City of Edinburgh and Argyll and Bute have the lowest at 15%. Glasgow City has the highest percentage of "working age population" (16-64) at 71%, while Na h-Eileanan Siar and Dumfries and Galloway have the lowest at 58%. The highest percentage of elderly population (65 & over) occurs in Argyll and Bute, Na h-Eileanan Siar, South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway at 26%, while the lowest percentage of 13% is seen in Glasgow City (Chart 4).

More detailed information on population estimates is available directly from the NRS population estimates web pages.

Please note: If you require the most up-to-date data available, please check the data sources directly as new data may have been published since these data pages were last updated. Although we endeavour to ensure that the data pages are kept up-to-date, there may be a time lag between new data being published and the relevant ScotPHO web pages being updated.