Edinburgh has seen the largest population increase of all the Scottish Council areas in recent years, according to latest government figures.
In "Mid-2008 Population Estimates, Scotland”, the General Register Office for Scotland estimates that Edinburgh's population on 30 June 2008, months before the credit crunch began to bite, was 471,650.
The increases of 3,580 (0.8%) on the previous year, and of 25,410 (just under 6%) between 1998 and 2008, were the largest increases in absolute numbers of all the
Scottish Council areas. East Lothian
had the largest annual population increase in percentage terms at 1.8%.
Scotland's population keeps rising
The population of Scotland as a whole has increased to the highest level since 1981. Scotland's population on 30 June 2008 was estimated to be 5,168,500, an increase of 24,300 on the previous year.
"The increase was slightly less than in the previous year - over
24,000 rather than over 27,000," said Registrar General for Scotland Duncan Macniven. "But births exceeded deaths by almost
4,000, almost 4 times as much as the previous year. Migration accounted
for the remaining increase – but that was less than the record 27,000
net migration in 2006-07."
Cities, particularly Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, saw high proportions of migrants
coming outside of Scotland. With Aberdeen and Glasgow most were from
outside the UK, while in Edinburgh just over half were from the UK.
"Net migration from the rest of the UK was up on the previous year –
11,500 compared with 8,800. But international migration was down from
a net 16,800 to a net 7,700, mainly because of an increase in the
number of people leaving Scotland," said Macniven.
Snapshot of City of Edinburgh on June 30 2008
- Edinburgh's population estimated to be 471,650
- There were 227,922 males and 243,728 females
- The average age of Edinburgh males was 37 and average age of females was 40
- 72% of men and 65% of women were of working age
- There were 1,788 people per square kilometre in Edinburgh compared to 3,329 in Glasgow, 397 in West Lothian, 141 in East Lothian, and 9 per square kilometre in the Highland area
Scotland-wide statistical highlights
- The estimated population of Scotland on 30 June 2008 was 5,168,500,
a rise of 24,300 on the previous year and the highest since 1981 - Between mid-2001 and mid-2008, Scotland’s population increased by 2.1 per cent (+104,300) from 5.06 million to 5.17 million
- Between mid-1998 and mid-2008, Scotland’s population increased by 1.8 per cent (+91,430) from 5.08 million to 5.17 million
- In the twelve months up to 30 June 2008, the number of births
exceeded the number of deaths by 3,900, the largest natural increase
since 1991-92 - Over the year there was a net migration gain of 20,000 people. This
includes net gains of 11,500 people from the rest of the UK, 7,700
people from overseas (including asylum seekers) and 800 people from the
armed forces - Over the year 38,500 people (including asylum seekers) came to
Scotland from overseas and 30,800 left Scotland to go overseas. The net
gain of 7,700 is lower than the record gain of 16,800 in 2006-07
because more people left Scotland - The net gain from the rest of the UK exceeded that from overseas.
Over the year 53,300 people came to Scotland from England, Wales and
Northern Ireland and 41,800 left Scotland to go in the opposite
direction. The net gain of 11,500 is greater than the previous year’s
8,800 net gain because more people came to Scotland and fewer left - Among Council areas, between mid-2007 and mid-2008, East Lothian
had the largest percentage population increase at +1.8 per cent
followed by Perth & Kinross (+1.4 per cent) and Midlothian (+1.3
per cent). Argyll & Bute had the largest percentage population
decrease at -0.9 per cent, followed by Eilean Siar and Inverclyde each
with a percentage decrease of -0.4 per cent - Among NHS Board areas, Lothian (+1.0 per cent), Borders (+0.9 per
cent) and Grampian (+0.8 per cent) had the largest percentage
population increases. The only NHS Board area to have experienced a
decline in population was Western Isles (-0.4 per cent) - In the year to mid-2008, the city Council areas experienced net
losses of migrants to the rest of Scotland. However, more migrants came
to the city Council areas from both the rest of the UK and from
overseas than went in the other direction - There were 66 people per square kilometre in Scotland, ranging from
9 persons per square kilometre in Eilean Siar and Highland Council
areas to 3,329 persons per square kilometre in Glasgow City Council
area.