2022

As at 14 August 2022, 15,491 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

In the week 8 to 14 August, 66 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, an increase of six deaths from the previous week.

49 deaths were aged 75 or older, 12 were aged 65 to 74, and 5 were under 65. 27 were female and 39 were male.

There were 6 deaths in Aberdeen City, and 5 deaths in both Fife and South Lanarkshire. In total 25 council areas (out of 32) had at least one death involving COVID-19 last week.

50 were in hospitals, 10 were in care homes, and 6 were at home or a non-institutional setting.

Our monthly analysis shows that the age-standardised rate of COVID-related deaths was higher in July 2022 (78 per 100,000) compared to June 2022 (48 per 100,000) Throughout the pandemic, the highest rate of COVID-related deaths was 585 per 100,000 people in April 2020.

Of the 15,417 deaths involving COVID-19 between March 2020 and July 2022, 93% (14,385) had at least one pre-existing condition, with the most common being dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said:

“The latest figures show that last week there were 66 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is six more deaths than the previous week.

“People living in the most deprived areas were 2.3 times as likely to die with COVID-19 as those in the least deprived areas. The size of this gap slowly widened over the period of the pandemic but has narrowed since January 2022, when the gap was 2.5.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,126, which is 112, or 11%, more than the five year average.”

There have been nine deaths in Scotland in which the underlying cause of death was due to the adverse effects of vaccination against COVID-19, and four further deaths where an adverse effect was mentioned on the death certificate. This is an increase of two from the figure reported last month. By 31 July 2022, statistics from Public Health Scotland state that 4.4 million people had been given at least one vaccine dose.

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland is available on the NRS website.

Background

We update the weekly COVID-19 death information in our data and charts spreadsheet and publish a full report and news release on a monthly basis.

NRS figures include deaths where ‘suspected’ or ‘probable’ COVID-19 appears on the death certificate.

Data are provisional and subject to change in future weekly publications. The 2022 data will be finalised in summer 2023.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Donna Green
NRS Communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

1,245 people died from conditions caused by alcohol in Scotland in 2021, according to latest figures published by National Records of Scotland.

The number of deaths is 5% (55) higher than 2020 and is the highest number of deaths since 2008. More detailed analysis shows the rate of mortality from alcohol-specific causes was 22.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. Whilst this is higher than the 21.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2020, it is not a statistically significant increase, and remains below the peak rate of deaths from alcohol in 2006.

Of those who died from alcohol-specific causes, two thirds were male. The average age of deaths of those who died from these causes was 58.7 years for females and 59.7 years for males.

Julie Ramsay, Vital Events Statistician at NRS, said:

“Health inequalities are a feature of alcohol-specific deaths. Deaths attributed to alcohol were 5.6 times as likely in the most deprived areas of Scotland compared to the least deprived areas. This is more than the deprivation gap for all causes of death, which is 1.9. Two thirds of those who died last year were male.”

In the past five years, after adjusting for age, the rate of mortality from alcohol-specific deaths was higher than the Scottish average in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Lanarkshire Health Board areas. Rates were also high in Western Isles Health Board, but the difference with Scotland as a whole was not statistically significant.

Background

National Records of Scotland (NRS) is a non-ministerial department of the devolved Scottish Administration. It is responsible for producing statistics on Scotland’s population.

The publication Alcohol-specific Deaths 2021 is available on our website.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Susie Rose
NRS communications
Tel: 07500 463452
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

There were 753 probable suicides in Scotland in 2021, a decrease of 52 (6%) from 2020, according to new figures from the National Records of Scotland.

Most of the decrease in the past year can be attributed to a fall in female suicides, which decreased by 42 (18%). The rate of suicide in males was 3.2 times as high as the rate for females.

Suicide rates are highest between the ages of 25 and 64.

Julie Ramsay, Head of Vital Events Statistics said:

“The number of people dying from suicide fell to its lowest level since 2017.

"The decrease in the most recent year was mainly driven by a fall in the number of female suicides.”

After adjusting for age, the rate of suicide in the most deprived areas in Scotland was nearly three times as high as in the least deprived areas in Scotland. This is a wider gap than deaths from all causes.

At health board level, Highland, Tayside and Ayrshire and Arran had higher suicide rates than the Scottish average. At council level, suicide rates were higher in Highland, Dundee City, East Ayrshire and Glasgow City.

Background

National Records of Scotland (NRS) is a non-ministerial department of the devolved Scottish Administration. It is responsible for producing statistics on Scotland’s population.

The publication Probable Suicides, 2021 is available on our website.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Susie Rose
NRS communications
Tel: 07500 463452
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

NRS is delighted to be awarded accredited archive status for the second time. The award covers all aspects of NRS’ archive service, including organisational health, archival collections and stakeholder engagement.

UK Archive Service Accreditation Scheme is supported by partnership of professional bodies and national archives from across the UK. It provides a useful standard against which archive services are assessed by independent external experts. As well as being an accredited archive service, NRS is an accreditation scheme partner providing accreditation assessments of archive services principally across Scotland, but also in the rest of the UK.

The UK Archive Service Accreditation scheme was established in 2013 and NRS was first accredited in 2014.  Accreditation is awarded for a period of up to 6 years at which point an organisation has to reapply.

1,330 people lost their lives to drug misuse in Scotland in 2021, according to latest figures published by National Records of Scotland.

The number is 1% lower than 2020 which makes it the first year since 2013 in which drug misuse deaths have not increased. However, it is still the second highest annual total on record.

Of those who died from the misuse of drugs, 65% were aged between 35 and 54 years old and more than two thirds (70%) were men.

Dundee City had the highest age-standardised drug misuse death rate of all local authority areas (45.2 per 100,000 population for the 5-year period 2017-2021), followed by Glasgow City (44.4) and Inverclyde (35.7).

Julie Ramsay, Vital Events Statistician at NRS, said:

“Drug misuse deaths have increased substantially over the past few decades – there were more than five times as many deaths in 2021 compared with 1996. 2021 is the first year since 2013 that drug misuse deaths have not increased.

“In 2021, after adjusting for age, people in the most deprived areas were more than 15 times as likely to have a drug misuse death as those in the least deprived areas. This ratio has widened over the past two decades.”

In 93% of all drug misuse deaths, more than one drug was found to be present in the body, and the type of drugs that are implicated in deaths has been changing. In 2015 there were 191 deaths involving benzodiazepines, last year there were 918, near five times as many. This increase has mostly been driven by street benzodiazepines rather than those which are prescribed. Of all drug misuse deaths in 2021, 84% involved opiates or opioids (such as heroin, morphine and methadone). 69% involved benzodiazepines (such as diazepam and etizolam).

In 2020 (the most recent year available for the rest of the UK) Scotland’s drug misuse rate was 3.7 times that for the UK as a whole, and higher than that of any European country.

Background

National Records of Scotland (NRS) is a non-ministerial department of the devolved Scottish Administration. It is responsible for producing statistics on Scotland’s population.

The publication Drug-related Deaths in Scotland in 2021 is available on our website.

Figure 5a and 6a in the publication show the age standardised rates of death by drug misuse for Scotland’s local authorities and health boards. The numbers of deaths in each area are in table HB1 and table C1.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Susie Rose
NRS communications
Tel: 07500 463452
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

6,046 deaths were caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in Scotland in 2021, a decrease of 5% (306 deaths) on 2020, according to new figures from National Records of Scotland.

Two thirds of those who died due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias were females; - there were 4,060 (67%) female deaths and 1,986 (33%) male deaths.

Julie Ramsay, Vital Events Statistician, said: “The rate of mortality caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias was 117 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021.  This makes these conditions one of the highest causes of death in Scotland, with a mortality rate similar to ischaemic (coronary) heart disease (126 deaths per 100,000 in 2020).

While this year’s mortality rate is a statistically significant decrease from 125 deaths per 100,000 in 2020, the current rate of death is more than twice as high as it was in 2000 (56 deaths per 100,000).”

Deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias were 1.3 times as likely to occur in the most deprived areas of Scotland compared to the least deprived areas. 

Deprivation has less impact on deaths from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias than on deaths from all causes. Other causes of death are 1.9 more likely to occur in the most deprived areas of Scotland compared to the least deprived areas.

After adjusting for age, the mortality rate for deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias was highest in the Lanarkshire, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Forth Valley NHS board areas.

Where Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are mentioned on the death certificate, but are not necessarily the underlying cause, there was 10,626 deaths in 2021, with a rate of mortality of 204 per 100,000 people (an increase of 53% in since 2000). In 2020, deaths in this category peaked at 241 deaths per 100,000.  This is most likely due the effect of deaths caused by COVID-19 during this year.

Background

National Records of Scotland (NRS) is a non-ministerial department of the devolved Scottish Administration. It is responsible for producing statistics on Scotland’s population.

The publication Alzheimer’s and other dementia deaths, 2021 is available on our website.

Information is broken down by age-group, sex, cause of death, location of death, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile, NHS Board and Local Authority area.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Donna Green
NRS communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

As at 10 July 2022, 15,098 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

In the week 4 to 10 July, 83 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, an increase of 22 deaths from the previous week.

52 were aged 75 or older, 20 were aged 65 to 74, and 11 were under 65. 46 were female and 37 were male.

There were 14 deaths in City of Edinburgh, seven deaths in Fife and six deaths in North Lanarkshire. In total, 25 council areas (out of 32) had at least one death involving COVID-19 last week.

68 were in hospitals, 9 were in care homes, and 6 at home or a non-institutional setting.

Our monthly analysis shows that the age standardised death rate for deaths involving COVID-19 was slightly higher in June 2022 (47 per 100,000) compared to May 2022 (46 per 100,000). Throughout the pandemic, the highest rate was 585 deaths per 100,000 people in April 2020.

Of the 15,047 deaths involving COVID-19 between March 2020 and June 2022, 93% (14,022) had at least one pre-existing condition. Just under one quarter of people whose death involved COVID-19 had dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. This was the most common main pre-existing condition.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said:

“The latest figures show that last week there were 83 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is 22 more deaths than the previous week.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in the latest week was 1,089, which is 62, or 6%, more than the five year average.”

After adjusting for age, people living in the most deprived areas were 2.4 times as likely to die with COVID-19 as those in the least deprived areas. The size of this gap has slowly widened over the period of the pandemic but has narrowed slightly since January when the gap was 2.5

There have been nine deaths in Scotland in which the underlying cause of death was due to the adverse effects of vaccination against COVID-19, and two further deaths where an adverse effect was mentioned on the death certificate. This is no increase from the figure reported last month. By 30 June 2022, statistics from Public Health Scotland state that 4.4 million people had been given at least one vaccine dose.

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland is available on the NRS website.

Background

Since 23 March we have ceased publishing weekly news releases and full reports but continue to update the weekly COVID-19 death information in our data and charts spreadsheet. We publish a full report and news release at 9.30 am once a month.

NRS figures include deaths where ‘suspected’ or ‘probable’ COVID-19 appears on the death certificate.

Data are provisional and subject to change in future weekly publications. The 2021 data will be finalised in summer 2022.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Donna Green
NRS Communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

Scotland’s largest cities saw their populations fall during the pandemic while some rural areas saw their populations rise, reversing long-term trends, according to new figures from National Records of Scotland.

The NRS Mid-Year Population Estimates for the year up to 30 June 2021 is the first report to cover a full year affected by the pandemic.

The most common moves within Scotland were from the largest cities; Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, to their neighbouring council areas. In addition, many rural areas saw an increase in people moving into the area. In some areas, such as Aberdeenshire and Argyll and Bute, the changes reversed the trend of several years of falling populations.

Esther Roughsedge, Head of Population and Migration Statistics at NRS, said:

“As well as people moving long term out of cities and into the surrounding areas, there may have been students who have moved back to their parents’ addresses temporarily during the pandemic. Another factor could be people who had previously moved updating their address with a GP to make sure they received their COVID-19 vaccination letters. Address information from GPs feeds into our migration estimates. Future reports will tell us if the areas which have gained population sustain those levels in the years ahead.” 

Overall, the report estimates that Scotland’s population was 5,479,900 at mid-2021 (30 June 2021). The population increased by 13,900 people (0.25%) in the year to that date which is a slower increase than in the five years before the pandemic.

There have been more deaths than births for the last seven years. In the latest year, deaths outnumbered births by the largest amount on record. This means that migration was the main driver of population growth over the latest year. More people moved to Scotland than left, as has been the case for the last two decades.

Esther Roughsedge added:

“We currently continue to see Scotland’s population rise, albeit more slowly than before the pandemic. However, our most recent projections looking ahead to 2045, published in January, show that if current trends in births, deaths and migration continue, Scotland’s population will start to fall by the end of this decade.”

Notes

The publication Mid-Year 2021 Population Estimates and interactive charts are available on our website.

Population estimates by administrative areas are available from mid-1981 onwards in the time series Table 3 on our website.

The following table shows the population change of council areas in Scotland from mid-2020 to mid-2021, ordered from highest percentage change to lowest.

Background

National Records of Scotland (NRS) is a non-ministerial department of the devolved Scottish Administration. It is responsible for producing statistics on Scotland’s population.

Media enquiries should be directed to:

Donna Green
NRS communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

47,786 live births were registered in 2021. This was 2% higher than the previous year, but still the second lowest annual total since records began in 1855, according to figures released today by National Records of Scotland.

63,587 deaths were registered last year, 1% fewer than in 2020. There were 10%, or 5,827, excess deaths compared to the pre-pandemic five year average.

2021 also saw the highest infant death rate in ten years, with 3.9 infant deaths for every thousand live births increasing from last year’s rate of 3.1.

Julie Ramsay, Vital Events Statistician, said:

“15,801 fewer births than deaths were registered in 2021. The difference between births and deaths is described as natural change and Scotland has been in a period of negative natural change (more deaths than births) since 2015.

“Whilst the 2021 death figures  show a slight reduction on the year before, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still evident.  

“Births increased slightly but are still low in historical terms. The fertility rate increased slightly to 1.31 after falling to 1.29 last year, its lowest ever level. For a population to replace itself this figure needs to be around 2.1.”

There were just 11,831 marriages in 2020 compared to 26,007 in 2019, following restrictions on marriage ceremonies during the pandemic.

There were 24,284 marriages in 2021. This is more than double the number in the previous year but remains low in historic terms.  There were 819 same-sex marriages.

499 civil partnerships were registered in 2021, the highest number since 2013.  Since June 2021, mixed-sex couples have been able to form a civil partnership. 411  mixed-sex couples and 88 same-sex couples formed a civil partnership during 2021.

The publication Vital Events Reference Tables 2021 and an infographic are available on this website.

Background

National Records of Scotland (NRS) is a non-ministerial department of the devolved Scottish Administration. It is responsible for producing statistics on Scotland’s population.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Donna Green
NRS communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

The average household size in Scotland is now 2.12 people, down from 2.27 in 2001, according to figures published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS). City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City are the main exceptions to this trend. From 2008 to 2021, the average household size in these two council areas increased by just over 4%.

Households consisting of only one person are the most common type in Scotland.

The latest figures also show that the total number of households in Scotland reached 2.53 million in 2021. This was an increase of 334,300 (15%) since 2001.

The number of households has increased in every council area over the last 20 years. Orkney Islands (29%), East Lothian (27%) and Aberdeenshire (25%) had the biggest relative increases.

The figures show there were 2.67 million dwellings in Scotland in 2021. 88,300 (3%) of these were empty. These included new homes yet to be occupied and dwellings awaiting repair or demolition.

A total of 24,000 (1%) dwellings were second homes.  Remote rural areas generally have higher proportions of empty and second homes than urban areas.

Sandy Taylor, Head of Household Statistics said:

“These latest statistics show a continuation of the trends in the number and type of households that we have seen over the last twenty years.

“The growth in the number of households is partly due to an increase in the population but it is also because people are increasingly living alone or with fewer other people.”

The publication Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2021 is available on the NRS website.

Background

These figures are based on a National Statistics publication released today by National Records of Scotland (NRS):

‘Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland 2021’

The household and dwelling statistics are mainly used for informing decisions about housing need and service provision.

A ‘dwelling’ refers to the accommodation itself, for example, a house or a flat. A ‘household’ refers to the people living together in that dwelling. The number of households will be smaller than the number of dwellings, as some dwellings are vacant or second homes.

In 2013, the Scottish Government introduced legislation which allows councils to increase the Council Tax charges on certain long-term empty properties. It also made slight changes to the definitions of such properties and second homes. The aim of the legislation is to encourage empty home owners to bring their properties back into use. More information on this, and other empty homes initiatives, can be found on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/supply-demand/emptyhomes

Further statistics produced by NRS, and information about our statistics, can be accessed at: http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data

Media enquiries should be directed to: 
Donna Green – 07775-027-380
NRS Communications
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]