Population
The estimated population of Scotland on 30 June 2011 was 5,254,800 (based on the 2001 census), the highest ever.
The population of Scotland grew by around 32,700 in the 12 months between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011, an increase of 0.6%.
The increase in the population in the 12 months between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011 was mainly due to:
The age of the population of Scotland was as follows:
Scotland�s population has been fairly stable over the past 50 years. It peaked at 5.24 million in 1974 before falling to 5.05 million in 2002. It then increased each year to reach 5.25 million in 2011. That increase has mainly been the result of more people moving to Scotland than leaving.
Changes in the population vary across Scotland. In the 10 years from 2001 to 2011, the council areas which had the highest population increases and reductions were as follows:
Current projections (estimates for future years largely based on past trends) suggest that the population of Scotland will rise to 5.76 million by 2035 and that the population will age significantly, with the number of people aged 65 and over increasing by 63%, from 0.88 million to 1.43 million.
Births
There were 58,590 births registered in Scotland in 2011.
There were 201 (0.3%) fewer births in 2011 than in 2010. This is the third year the number of births has fallen (following increases in each of the previous six years).
The average age of mothers has increased from 27.4 in 1991 to 29.7 in 2011. Similarly, the average age of fathers has increased from 30.0 in 1991 to 32.4 in 2011.
The percentage of babies born to unmarried couples rose steadily from the 1970s until 2008. In 2010 it was slightly more than 50% for Scotland as a whole, the same level as in the previous two years. Most births are registered by both parents. In 2010 and 2011, 5.3% of births were registered in just the mother�s name � the lowest percentage since 1981.
86% of mothers who gave birth in Scotland in 2011 were born in the UK, including 76% who were born in Scotland. 6% of mothers had been born elsewhere in the European Union (EU), including 4% from the countries which joined the EU in 2004 (such as Poland).
For 15% of births in 2011 neither parent was born in Scotland (compared with 9% in 2003) and for 9% of births neither parent was born in the UK (compared with 3% in 2003).
Deaths
There were 53,661 deaths registered in Scotland in 2011.
This was 306 (0.6%) less than in 2010 and was the lowest number of deaths recorded since 1855 (when civil registration was introduced).
The main causes of deaths were:
The percentage of deaths caused by coronary heart disease has fallen from 29% in 1980-1982 to 14% in 2011, but the percentage of deaths caused by cancer has risen from 22% to 29%.
Death rates from cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke in Scotland are well above the rates for the other countries in the UK.
There were 299 stillbirths and 238 infant deaths in 2011. Death rates for both have improved significantly. The rate of stillbirths has dropped from 13.1 for every 1,000 births (live births and stillbirths) in 1971 to 5.1 in 2011. The infant death rate fell from 19.9 for every 1,000 live births in 1971 to 4.1 in 2011.
Life expectancy
Life expectancy in Scotland has improved greatly over the last 25 years, increasing from 69.1 years for men and 75.3 years for women born around 1981 to 76.1 years for men and 80.6 years for women born around 2010.
Despite recent improvements, Scottish men and women have poor life expectancy compared with most of the EU � 3.6 years lower for men and 4.7 years lower for women compared with the countries where life expectancy is highest.
Migration (people moving into and out of the country)
In the last half of the 20th century, more people tended to leave Scotland than move here. However, since 2002, this has changed.
In the year to 30 June 2011, the number of people moving to Scotland from other parts of the UK, and the number moving out of Scotland to other parts of the UK were as follows.
This movement of people increased the population by around 2,900 people, lower than the increase in the two previous years.
In the year to 30 June 2011, the number of people moving to Scotland from overseas and the number moving out of Scotland to go overseas were as follows.
This movement of people increased the population by around 25,400 � the highest since current records began in 1991-92.
Most people moving to and from Scotland are young � between 16 and 34, with smaller peaks for children under 5 moving to and from Scotland.
Marriages and civil partnerships
There were 29,135 marriages in Scotland in 2011. This includes 6,829 marriages (23%) where neither the bride nor groom lived in Scotland, but does not include people living in Scotland who marry elsewhere.
The average age at which people marry for the first time has increased by around two years in the last 10 years, to 32.6 years for men and 30.9 years for women.
Just over half of all marriages (52%) were civil ceremonies, carried out by a registrar � compared with just under one-third (31%) in 1971. Just over half of these civil ceremonies took place in registration offices, with the rest taking place in approved places.
Most religious marriages were carried out by Church of Scotland ministers (5,557), with clergy from the Roman Catholic Church carrying out 1,729 marriages. Celebrants from the Humanist Society of Scotland, authorised to carry out marriages since 2005, officiated at 2,486 marriages compared with 2,092 in 2010.
In 2011 there were 554 civil partnerships � 227 male couples and 327 female couples.
In 2011, there were 9,862 divorces and 44 civil partnerships were dissolved (legally ended) in Scotland.
Adoptions
In 2011, there were 496 adoptions recorded in Scotland, 30 more than in 2010. The number of adoptions each year is around a quarter of what it used to be in the early 1970s.
Households and housing
In the middle of 2011, there were 2.37 million households in Scotland � around 173,000 more than in 2001.
The number of households has been increasing steadily, but this growth has slowed over the last four years. Between 2010 and 2011, the increase in the number of households (10,600) was lower than in the last 10 years.
Projections suggest that by 2035 the number of households in Scotland will increase to 2.89 million, which is an average of 21,230 extra households each year.
Most of that expected increase in the number of households is the result of an ageing population, and more people living alone or in smaller households, rather than an increase in the population.
Across Scotland in 2010, 2.8% of homes were empty and 1.5% were second homes, though there are wide differences across the country. There are more empty homes in more deprived areas, and more second homes in the remote rural areas.
Statutory registration
Since 1855, by law all births, deaths and marriages (and now civil partnerships) must be registered. The local authorities are responsible for providing the registration service under the supervision of the Registrar General.
There are currently three district examiners who are responsible for checking the accuracy all of the 150,000 records created each year.
Every year since 2007, registrars in the 32 councils have achieved a high rate of accuracy, with an average of over 97% of the records they create having no mistakes in them.
Beyond 2011: future options for collecting information about the population
Following on from the census carried out in 2011, options for gathering information about the population in 2021 are being considered.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to carry out a successful census. As the census is a basis for other statistics, the 10-year cycle means that the information statistics are based on can be up to 12 years old before new results become available.
Alternatives being examined include making better use of administrative data, surveys, a rolling census or, as some countries are doing, just carrying on with the census.