Census Results « Scotland's Census: Shaping Our Future

Statistical Bulletin - Release 1B

Further results from the 2011 Census in Scotland are now available. Release 1B provides:

usually resident census population estimates (rounded to the nearest 100) for Scotland, by five-year age bands and sex
usually resident census population estimates (rounded to the nearest 100) for each council area, by five-year age bands and sex; and
estimates of number of households (rounded to the nearest 10) for Scotland and each council area.

This document is available as:

Release 1B Statistical Bulletin - PDF (Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format) (2Mb)

Release 1B Statistical Bulletin - HTML

A range of figures and tables are available to download.

Main points - Release 1B

Population

The population of Scotland on census day in 2011 was estimated to be 5,295,400 - the highest ever.
There were more women (2,728,000 or 51.5 per cent) than men (2,567,400 or 48.5 per cent) in Scotland. This was the case for all council areas except for Shetland Islands.

Age structure.

In 2011, 17 per cent of the population were aged 65 and over. This percentage ranges from 14 per cent in West Lothian to 22 per cent in Argyll & Bute.

Age comparisons with 10 years ago

Since 2001, the number of children aged under 5 years in Scotland has increased by 6 per cent. This change has not been uniform throughout the country. In the City of Edinburgh the increase was 18 per cent whilst there was a reduction of 11 per cent in Argyll & Bute.
The number of people aged 80 and over has increased by 19 per cent since 2011. All council areas have seen rises but this ranges from a 3 per cent increase in Glasgow City to a 44 per cent increase in East Dunbartonshire.

Households

98 per cent of Scotland's 5,295,400 population lived in households in 2011 with the remaining 2 per cent living in communal establishments, such as university halls of residence, prisons and care homes.
The number of households in Scotland with at least one usual resident on census day in 2011 was estimated to be 2,372,780 - the highest ever.
The average household size in Scotland was 2.19 people per household and ranged from 2.02 in Glasgow City to 2.42 in East Renfrewshire.

Household comparisons with 10 years ago

Since 2001 the number of households in Scotland increased by 180,530 (8 per cent ) from 2,192,250. All council areas saw increases with the largest increases in Orkney Islands (17 per cent), Aberdeenshire (15 per cent) and Highland (14 per cent).
Between 2001 and 2011 the number of households increased faster than the number of people in households in all areas of Scotland. This has led to a decrease in average household size from 2.27 to 2.19 people per household.
In 1961, one-person households were the least common household type and accounted for 14 per cent of all households. By 2011 they had become the most common household type and accounted for 35 per cent of all households.

The Statistical Bulletin provides the main report and commentary on these results and includes:

Changes between 2001 and 2011 in the age profile of the population in different parts of Scotland
Council area populations; age and sex profiles
Council area dependency ratios
Number of households in Scotland and change in household size between 2001 and 2011

All key terms used in this publication, such as usual residents, are explained in the 2011 Census Glossary.

Release 1A - 17 December 2012

Release 1A provides estimates (rounded to the nearest thousand) of the usually resident population of Scotland on Census Day, broken down by age and sex. Also provided are estimates of the total usually resident population in each council area (rounded to the nearest thousand). This document is available in:

Statistical Bulletin - HTML and

Statistical Bulletin - PDF (Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format) (511 Kb)

A range of figures and tables are available to download.

Main points - Release 1A

Scotland's population at 27 March 2011 was 5,295,000, the highest ever recorded population for Scotland.
There were 2,567,000 men and 2,728,000 women.
The population per square kilometre ranged from 9 in Eilean Siar and Highland to 3,395 in Glasgow City.

This document provides the main report and commentary on these results and includes:

2011 Census Day population results
Population change over time

long-term trends
the last 100 years
trends in dependency and sex ratios

Population density for council areas
Scotland's population in an international context

All key terms used in this publication, such as usual residents, are explained in the 2011 Census Glossary.