2011 Census Reconciliation Report - Households

Main Points

The main points in this report are:

The 2011 household estimates published prior to the release of the 2011 Census were within one per cent of the 2011 Census estimates both for Scotland as a whole, and for the majority of local authorities. These estimates have been revised for the 'Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2012' publication, to take into account the 2011 Census. The revised estimates are within 0.4 per cent of the 2011 Census estimates for all local authorities.
Estimates of the percentage change in household numbers between 2001 and 2011, from the 2011 household estimates published prior to the release of the 2011 Census, were also consistent with estimates of the change between the 2001 and 2011 Censuses. The percentage changes for Scotland, and the majority of its local authorities, were within one percentage point of the percentage change between the 2001 and 2011 Censuses. The change in the revised household estimates are within 0.4 percentage points of the change between censuses.
Estimates of average household size^[1] and the estimates of the people resident in communal establishments^[2] were also close to the 2011 Census estimates.
The greatest difference from the Census is in the projections of household type, which are included in 'Household Projections for Scotland, 2010-based' publication on the National Records of Scotland (NRS) website. The household projections over-project the increase in the proportion of smaller households and the decrease in the proportion of larger households. The 2011 Census suggests that between 2001 and 2011, the changes in the types of households that people live in were not as great as between 1991 and 2001. As the household projections are based on projecting the 1991 and 2001 data forward to 2011 and beyond, this caused the over-projection. The alternative headship projection, published alongside the principal household projection, produced better projections of household type than the principal projection because it assumes slower changes in the types of households that people live in than the principal projection.

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