Main Points
- There were 45,763 live births registered in 2024, which was 172 fewer than in 2023. This was the lowest annual total since records began in 1855.
- Scotland’s total fertility rate fell to 1.25, down from 1.27 in 2023. This is the lowest total fertility rate since the start of our published time series in 1951. Total fertility rate represents the average number of children that a group of females would expect to have, per female. For a population to replace itself, this rate needs to be around 2.1, if there was no migration.
- There were 369 adoptions in 2024, the same number as in 2023.
- There were 62,291 deaths registered in 2024, 2% less than in 2023. The total number of deaths was 8.7% lower than the number expected. Expected death estimates are based on historic data, and are currently classified as Official Statistics in Development.
- In 2024 there were 16,528 more deaths than births. The last time Scotland had more births than deaths was in 2014, and the gap has generally widened since then.
- The age-standardised mortality rate, which takes into account the size and age structure of the population, was 1,105 per 100,000 people in 2024, the lowest since the start of our published time series in 1994. Age-standardised mortality was higher for males (1,269 per 100,000) than for females (968 per 100,000).
- There were 26,955 marriages in Scotland in 2024, 202 more than in 2023. While the number of marriages in Scotland initially increased in 2022 following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, they returned to pre-covid levels in 2023 and 2024.
- There were 796 civil partnerships registered in 2024, the highest number since 2006. 83% of civil partnerships were for mixed sex partners.
- There were 159 stillbirths in 2024, a rate of 3.5 for every thousand live birth and still births, a decrease from 3.7 in 2023. This is the joint lowest recorded stillbirth rate for any year.
- There were 159 infant deaths in 2024, a rate of 3.5 for every thousand live births. This was a decrease from 4.0 in 2023.
Introduction
Provisional vital events statistics have been released throughout the last year on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. This release replaces these and provides the final statistics for vital events registered in Scotland from 1 January to 31 December 2024.
This publication contains rates that use population as a denominator. These rates were calculated using the mid-2024 population estimates. Rates by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) were calculated using the mid-2022 small area population estimates, as these were the most up to date small area population estimates available at the time of publication. In future releases, rates will be revised using updated population estimates.
Amendments to the rebased population estimates for Scotland, 2011 to mid-2021 were published in January 2025. Rates for these years have been updated in this publication using these revised estimates and may differ from those published in 2024.
Adoptions
There were 369 adoptions in 2024, which was the same number as 2023. Over the long term, adoptions have been decreasing in Scotland. The number of adoptions in 2024 was around a third of the average for 1981 to 1985 and less than a fifth of the average for 1969 to 1970 (table 2.01).
The majority of adoptions were by adopters with no relation to the child at 60%, followed by step-parents at 37%. Slightly under half of adoptions were for children aged 0 to 4, and around a third were for children aged 5 to 9 (table 2.02).
Births
Figure 1 – The birth rate among mothers under 20 has fallen over time
Live Births per 1,000 females, by age of mother, 1951 – 2024
Figure 2 – The age profile of mothers has changed over time, with more mothers having babies at older ages
Live Births per 1,000 females, by age of mother, selected years
There were 45,763 live births registered in 2024, which was 172 less than in 2023. This was the lowest annual total since records began in 1855.
Since around 1965, the total number of births in Scotland has generally been falling. Following a period of growth observed between 2002 and 2008, the number of births has consistently been decreasing, with 2024 marking the second year in a row where births have reached a record low.
In 2024 there were 23,429 baby boys and 22,334 girls. The most common names were Noah and Olivia respectively. See our baby names publication for more baby name statistics (webpage).
51.7% of births were to unmarried parents. Multiple births accounted for 1.4% of all maternities with 632 maternities involving twins and 7 involving triplets or more. (Table 1.01b)
The age profile of mothers has changed over time. In the 1960s, the majority of births were to mothers in their twenties. From the mid-1970s onwards, births to mothers in their thirties began to increase. Since 2010, the most common age at which mothers gave birth was 30 to 34, with 35.7% of births in 2024 being to mothers in this age group. The number of births among mothers under 20 has fallen over time, with this group accounting for 2.4% of births in 2024 (Figures 1 and 2). In 2024, the average age of mothers was 31.4 years and average age of fathers was 33.7 years (table 3.15)
The total fertility rate is the average number of children that a group of females would expect to have if they experienced the observed age specific fertility rates in each of their childbearing years. In 2024, the total fertility rate fell to the lowest recorded level at 1.25 (table 3.04). For a population to replace itself, this figure needs to be around 2.1, if there was no migration.
Total fertility rates were lowest in the city council areas. The City of Edinburgh had the lowest total fertility rate of 0.99, followed by Glasgow City at 1.05, and Aberdeen City at 1.06. Midlothian, East Renfrewshire and Na h-Eileanan Siar had the highest fertility rates at 1.66, 1.56 and 1.51 respectively (table 3.16). Broken down by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), the most deprived quintile had the highest fertility rate of 1.41 and the least deprived quintile had the lowest rate of 1.21 (Table 3.17).
Almost half of all births in 2024 (47%) were to mothers who had had no previous live births. 35% were to mothers with 1 previous live birth and 2% were to mothers who had 4 or more previous live births. The number of previous live births differed according to the age of the mother, with younger mothers being more likely to have had no previous live births than older mothers. The only exception to this trend was for mothers aged 45 and over, who were more likely to have had no previous births than mothers aged 35 to 44 (Table 3.18).
Stillbirths and Infant Deaths
Figure 3 – At 3.5 stillbirths per 1,000 births, the stillbirth rate in 2024 is the joint lowest ever recorded. The rate was the same as in 2019
Stillbirth and Infant Death Rates, 1971 – 2024
Note: Stillbirth rates are calculated per 1,000 live and still births. Infant deaths, neonatal and post-neonatal death rates are calculated per 1,000 live births.
Stillbirth rates are calculated per 1,000 live and still births. Infant deaths, neonatal and post-neonatal death rates are calculated per 1,000 live births.
A stillbirth is a baby born after 24 or more weeks completed gestation and which did not, at any time, breathe or show signs of life. On 1 October 1992 the Still-Birth (Definition) Act 1992 came into force, altering the definition of a stillbirth to 24 or more weeks completed gestation, instead of 28 or more weeks completed gestation
Perinatal deaths refer to stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life.
Infant deaths refer to all deaths occurring in the first year of life. They are split into neonatal deaths and post-neonatal deaths:
Neonatal deaths: deaths in the first four weeks of life
Post-neonatal deaths: deaths from four weeks to one year
There were 159 stillbirths in 2024, a rate of 3.5 for every thousand live and still births, which was a decrease of 0.2 compared to 2023. This is the joint lowest recorded stillbirth rate for any year, with 2019 being the only other year with a stillbirth rate of 3.5.
There were 159 infant deaths, a rate of 3.5 for every thousand live births in 2024. This was a decrease from last year’s rate of 4.0. Infant deaths can be split into neonatal deaths, deaths in the first 4 weeks, and post-neonatal deaths, deaths from 4 weeks to 1 year. There were 108 neonatal deaths and 51 post-neonatal deaths registered in 2024 (Table 4.01). The rate of post-neonatal deaths was 1.1 per 1,000, a slight decrease from the previous year. The rate of neonatal deaths also decreased from 2.7 in 2023 to 2.4 in 2024.
All deaths
The number of deaths registered in 2024 was 62,291. This was around 2% lower than the number in 2023. In 2024 there were 16,528 more deaths than births. This measure is sometimes called “natural change”. The last time Scotland had more births than deaths was in 2014 and the gap has widened since then, growing markedly wider since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2024, the gap was smaller than the previous year, due to there being fewer deaths than in 2023.
In 2024, the age-standardised mortality rate for Scotland reached a record low since 1994 at 1,105 (±8) per 100,000 people in 2024. Age-standardised mortality was higher for males at 1,269 (±14) per 100,000 compared to females at 968 (±10) per 100,000 (table 5.05).
Age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) are used to allow comparisons between populations that may contain different proportions of people of different ages.
They are a better measure of mortality than numbers of deaths. They account for the population size and age structure and provide more reliable comparisons between groups or over time.
They are calculated using the 2013 European Standard Population (ESP2013) after taking account of changes in the distribution by age of the Scottish population.
More information on the calculation of age-standardised mortality rates is available on our website.
In 2024, Glasgow City was the council area with the highest age-standardised mortality rate of 1,381 (±33) per 100,000 people, followed by 1,322 (±39) for North Lanarkshire, and 1,279 (±72) for West Dunbartonshire. East Renfrewshire had the lowest mortality rate of 835 (±51), followed by 842 (±46) for East Dunbartonshire, and 862 (±104) for Orkney Islands (table 5.07).
Age-standardised mortality rates are calculated using mid-year population estimates, meaning the rates calculated using these figures are also estimates. A confidence interval is a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and shows the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. They are based on the lower and upper 95% confidence limits for the age-standardised mortality rates. 95% confidence intervals are calculated so that, if the analysis to produce an estimate was repeated many times, 95% of the time the true unknown value would lie between the lower and upper confidence limits.
In this report, confidence intervals are quoted in brackets beside central estimates. The plus-minus sign, ±, indicates the difference between the central estimate and the upper and lower limits of the confidence interval.
As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that the difference between figures is statistically significant. Council areas with smaller populations tend to have wider confidence intervals, indicating a greater amount of uncertainty their true value. For this reason, care must be taken when comparing age-standardised mortality rates between areas.
Excess deaths
Excess deaths is the difference between the observed number of deaths in a period and the number that would have been expected based on historical data. Estimates produced by the current method are classified as Official Statistics in Development. Information about future improvements to the method can be found in a blog by the ONS (webpage).
Figure 4 – Deaths in 2024 were below expected levels, following three years of being above expected levels
Deaths, expected and excess deaths 2011-2024
The total number of deaths in 2024 was 8.7% lower than the expected number of deaths. This follows four consecutive years in which the number of deaths was between 0.3% to 9.4% above expected levels (figure 4). The estimated number of expected deaths for 2024 was roughly 7.5% higher than for 2023. The model used to calculate expected deaths takes into account the growing and ageing population, as well as recent trends in mortality rates.
Deaths were lower than expected levels for all age groups in 2024. Deaths were 7.2% lower than expected for the 0-to-64 age group, 9.2% lower for the 65-to-79-year group, and 8.8% lower for the 80-and-over group.
This trend differed when broken down by sex. For females, excess death levels were similar across the three age groups, varying from 8.1% lower than expected for females aged 65 to 69, to 8.9% lower for females aged 80 and over. Males aged 65 to 79 had the lowest excess death levels at 10.1% lower than expected, compared to 6.4% lower for the up-to-64 age group (Table 5.11).
Figure 5 – Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death in 2024, followed by Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
Leading causes of death, 2024
In 2024, Ischaemic heart diseases were the leading cause of death, accounting for 11.1% of all deaths in Scotland (figure 5, Table 6.15). Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was the second leading cause, accounting for 10.6% of all deaths. Leading causes of death vary when broken down by age and sex, as shown in table 6.15. More detailed data on cause of death can be found in the chapter 6 tables.
Marriages and Civil Partnerships
There were 26,955 marriages in Scotland in 2024, 202 more than in 2023. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of marriages in Scotland decreased. Marriages rose in 2022 when ceremony restrictions were lifted before returning to pre-covid levels in 2023 and 2024. There were 1,086 same-sex marriages in 2024 (Table 1.01b)
The average age of people getting married has been increasing since the 1990s. During the 1980s, the average age for females was 26.6 years and for males was 28.9 years. In 2024, the average age for females was 37.8 years and for males was 40.0 years.
Figure 6 – In 2023 and 2024, the number of marriages returned to pre-covid levels
Marriages by type of ceremony, 1971 – 2024
Around 12,381 or 46% of marriages were civil ceremonies. The remaining 14,574 were carried out by religious and other belief bodies. The most common types of ceremonies after civil ceremonies were Humanist at 8,142 ceremonies, Church of Scotland at 1,252 ceremonies and Roman Catholic at 647 (Table 7.07 and Figure 6).
There were 796 civil partnerships registered in 2024, the highest number since 2006. There has been a continued increase in the number of civil partnerships each year from 2021, following much smaller numbers of same-sex civil partnerships from 2015 onwards after the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Following a legislation change in 2021 which allowed mixed-sex civil partnerships, most civil partnerships in Scotland have been for mixed-sex partners, at 83% in 2024. The number of mixed-sex civil partnerships has been increasing each year, and reached its highest of 661 in 2024. The number of same-sex civil partnerships has been increasing since 2021, but numbers are still much lower compared to pre-2014 levels.
Background to these statistics
National Records of Scotland collects the underlying for this publication each day, as and when each event is registered. To produce these statistics, validation and quality assurance checks are run on these data. From these checks, further information may be requested from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and local Registration offices for some cases and the data are amended accordingly. Once the data have passed these checks, they are frozen and used to produce these statistics. These final figures supersede the provisional weekly, monthly and quarterly figures already published.
These figures are directly comparable with those for other parts of the UK, as there are no significant differences across the UK in how Vital Events data are collected and processed. Vital events statistics for England, Wales, and the UK are available on the Office for National Statistics website (webpage). Vital events statistics for Northern Ireland and be found on the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency website (webpage).
The tables for this publication are organised into topic chapters. Each chapter contains a covering page and notes page which contain information relating to the tables in that chapter. Further information about data sources, methods, definitions and reliability of these statistics can be found in our background note collections:
In this edition of the publication, we have made some changes to the structure and layout of the tables to improve accessibility. We encourage users provide feedback on these changes, and you can do so by contacting us via our online form (webpage).
Information about our statistics
Accredited Official Statistics
These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.
In June 2024 The Office for Statistics Regulation introduced the new Accredited Official Statistics badge, to denote official statistics that have been independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and judged to meet the standards in the Code of Practice for Statistics. The new badge replaces the current National Statistics badge, though the meaning is the same. Accredited Official Statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
The method used to calculate excess deaths was introduced in February 2024 and has been adopted by statistical agencies across the UK. More information about this can be found in the methodology paper on the ONS website. We will regularly review estimates produced by the new excess deaths methodology, with further refinements to the approach being undertaken if necessary. As such, estimates of excess deaths produced by the new methodology will be labelled as Official Statistics in Development while further review, testing and development work is undertaken.
It is National Records of Scotland’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected of accredited official statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Office for Statistics Regulation promptly. Accredited official statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.
We also provide information about upcoming publications on our website.
If you would like receive updates on our statistics, you can register your interest on the Scottish Government ScotStat website.
List of all data tables
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Table 1.01(a)
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Population and vital events, Scotland, annual averages 1855-60 to 2016-20
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Table 1.01(b)
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Population and vital events, Scotland, 1971 to 2024
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Table 1.02
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Births, stillbirths, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships, numbers and rates, Scotland, quarterly, 2009 to 2024
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Table 1.03
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Estimated population, births, stillbirths, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships, numbers and rates, by administrative area, Scotland, 2024
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Table 1.04
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Births, deaths and death rates, by administrative area, resident and not resident in Scotland, 2024
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Table 1.05
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Standardised mortality ratios (based on Scotland experience) for selected causes, by administrative area, Scotland, 2024
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Table 1.06
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International populations and vital statistics rates, selected countries, latest available figures
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Table 1.07
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Summary comparisons with other countries of the United Kingdom
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Table 2.01
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Adoptions, Scotland, 1930 to 2024
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Table 2.02
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Adoptions by age of child and relationship of the adopter(s), 2024
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Table 2.03
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Adoptions by type of adoption, 1999 to 2024
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Table 2.04
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Adoptions by type of adopter(s), 1999 to 2024
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Table 3.01a
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Live births, numbers and percentages, by age of mother and marital status of parents, Scotland, 1946-50 to 2016-20
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Table 3.01b
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Live births, numbers and percentages, by age of mother and marital status of parents, Scotland, 2000 to 2024
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Table 3.02
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Live births, numbers and percentages by marital status of parents and type of registration, Scotland, 1974 to 2024
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Table 3.03
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Live births outside marriage, numbers and percentages, age of mother and type of registration, Scotland, 1974 to 2024
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Table 3.04
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Birth rate, gross and net reproduction rates and general and total fertility rates, Scotland, 1971 to 2024
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Table 3.05
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Fertility rates by age of mother, Scotland, 1971 to 2024
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Table 3.06
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Age-specific birth rates, per 1,000 female population, Scotland, 1951 to 2024
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Table 3.07a
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Cumulative fertility, by assumed birth cohort and selected age, Scotland, up to 2024
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Table 3.07b
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Cumulative fertility, for selected assumed birth cohorts, Scotland, up to 2024
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Table 3.07c
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Cumulative fertility, 1935 to 2009 assumed birth cohorts, Scotland, up to 2024
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Table 3.08
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Live births, numbers and fertility rates by marital status of parents, type of registration and administrative area, Scotland, 2024
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Table 3.09
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Live births, by country of birth of mother and administrative area, Scotland, 2024
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Table 3.10
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Live births, country of birth of mother by country of birth of father, Scotland, 2024
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Table 3.11
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Live births, stillbirths and maternities, by sex of child, marital status of parents and age of mother, Scotland, 2024
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Table 3.12
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Live birth, stillbirth and maternity rates per 1,000 women, by sex of child and age of mother, Scotland, 2024
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Table 3.13
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Live births by country of birth of mother, Scotland, 2014, 2019, 2022 to 2024
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Table 3.14
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Live births, stillbirths and maternities, by sex of child, marital status of parents and age of mother, Scotland and administrative areas, 2024
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Table 3.15
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Live births, numbers by age of mother and age of father, and the average ages of mothers and fathers, Scotland, 2024
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Table 3.16
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Fertility rates per 1,000 women by age group and administrative area, Scotland, 2024
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Table 3.17
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Live Births and total fertility rates, by SIMD quintile, Scotland 2001 to 2024
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Table 3.18
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Number of births by number of previous live births, Scotland, 2014 to 2024
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Table 4.01
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Live births, stillbirths, perinatal, neonatal, postneonatal and infant deaths, Scotland, 1946 to 2024
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Table 4.02
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Stillbirth, perinatal, neonatal, postneonatal and infant death rates, Scotland, 1946 to 2024
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Table 4.03
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Infant death rates, by age, Scotland, 1946 to 2024
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Table 4.04
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Number of stillbirths, by sex and cause, Scotland, 2011 to 2024
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Table 4.05
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Number of Infant deaths, by sex and cause, Scotland, 2011 to 2024
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Table 4.06
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Stillbirth rates, by sex and cause, Scotland, 2011 to 2024
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Table 4.07
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Infant death rates, by sex and cause, Scotland, 2011 to 2024
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Number of stillbirths by age of mother and father, and the average ages of mothers and fathers, 2024
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Table 5.01(a)
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Death rates, by sex and age, Scotland, 1946-50 to 2016-2020
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Table 5.01(b)
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Death rates, by sex and age, Scotland, 2001 to 2024
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Table 5.02
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Deaths, by sex, age, and administrative area, Scotland, 2024
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Table 5.03
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Deaths, by country of birth of deceased, Scotland, 1971 to 2024
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Table 5.04
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Deaths, by sex, age, and ethnic group, Scotland, 2024
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Table 5.05
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Age-standardised mortality rates, all ages, Scotland, 1994 to 2024
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Table 5.06
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Age-standardised mortality rates, under 75s, Scotland, 1994 to 2024
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Table 5.07
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Age-standardised mortality rates, all ages, by administrative area, 2006 to 2024
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Table 5.08
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Age-standardised mortality rates, under 75s, by administrative area, 2006 to 2024
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Table 5.09
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Deaths by location of death, 2000 to 2024
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Table 5.10
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Deaths by occupation, over 16s, 2024
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Table 5.11
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Deaths, expected and excess deaths by sex and age, Scotland, 2011 to 2024
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Table 6.01
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Deaths by sex and cause, Scotland, 2011 to 2024
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Table 6.02(a)
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Deaths by sex, age and cause, Scotland, 2024
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Table 6.02(b)
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Death rates by sex, age and cause, Scotland, 2024
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Table 6.03(a)
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Deaths by sex, cause and council area, Scotland, 2024
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Table 6.03(b)
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Deaths by sex, cause and health board area, Scotland, 2024
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Table 6.04
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Deaths by sex, age and detailed cause, Scotland, 2024
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Table 6.05
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Death rates from malignant neoplasms (all sites), by sex and age, Scotland, 1950 to 2024
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Table 6.06
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Death rates from malignant neoplasms, by sex, age and selected sites, Scotland, 1950 to 2024
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Table 6.07
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Death rates from ischaemic heart disease, by sex and age, Scotland, 1950 to 2024
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Table 6.08
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Death rates from cerebrovascular disease, by sex and age, Scotland, 1950 to 2024
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Table 6.09
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Accidental deaths by cause of death, Scotland, 2000 to 2024
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Table 6.10
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Deaths from road transport accidents, by sex and age, Scotland, 1946 to 2024
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Table 6.11
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Deaths involving Clostridium difficile and MRSA, Scotland, 2000 to 2024
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Table 6.12
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Hypothermia deaths by sex, 2000 to 2024
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Table 6.13
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Deaths from poisoning, by sex, cause and substance, Scotland, 2024
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Table 6.14
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Deaths aged under 90, years of working life and life to age 90 lost due to mortality from selected causes, Scotland, 2024
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Table 6.15
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Leading causes of death, by sex and age, Scotland, 2024
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Table 7.01a
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Marriages, by sex and age, Scotland, five year averages, 1946-1950 to 2016-2020
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Table 7.01b
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Marriages, by sex and age, Scotland, 1974 to 2024
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Table 7.02
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Same-sex marriages, by sex and marital status, Scotland, 2024
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Table 7.03a
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Mean age at marriage, by sex and marital status, Scotland, 1855 to 2024
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Table 7.03b
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Number of Marriages, by sex and marital status, Scotland, 1974 to 2024
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Table 7.04
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Marriages, percentages by marital status of persons marrying, Scotland, 1855 to 2024
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Table 7.05
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Marriages, religious forms and other beliefs, by selected denomination, 2014 to 2024
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Table 7.06
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Marriages, numbers and percentages, by method of celebration, Scotland, 1946 to 2024
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Table 7.07
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Marriages, by denomination, Scotland, 2024
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Table 7.08
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Marriages, by country of birth, Scotland, 2024
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Table 7.09
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Marriages, by country of residence, Scotland, 2024
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Table 7.10
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Civil Partnerships, by sex, Scotland, 2005 to 2024
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Table 7.11
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Civil Partnerships, sex and age groups in combination of younger partner and older partner, 2024
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Table 7.12
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Civil Partnerships, by country of birth, 2024
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