The number of foreign nationals registered to vote in Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections has reached a new high, according to statistics published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).
There were 195,400 foreign nationals on the electoral register at December 2024. This is up 3.1% on the previous year, and is the highest number ever recorded. This group represents 4.6% of the total electorate.
In total there were 4,283,300 people registered to vote for Scottish Parliamentary and local council elections. This figure increased by 1.0%. For UK elections there were 4,048,800 people registered to vote also up 1.0% on the previous year. These figures are both higher than at any previous December, with an increase in voters likely influenced by the General Election in July of last year.
Sandy Taylor, Head of Electoral Statistics said:
“The number of people registered to vote in UK, Scottish Parliamentary and local elections has remained broadly stable for another year.
“Beneath the headline figures we see the number of foreign nationals at record levels.
“These figures give an insight into how the Scottish electorate is changing over time to become more diverse.”
Nearly a million people, 21.7%, are registered to vote by post in UK Parliamentary elections. This was a little lower than the 22.2% recorded for the previous December. Twenty-one per cent of the total electorate are registered for a postal vote in Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections, which was slightly down on the 21.7% recorded for the previous year. NRS analysis shows that postal voting is generally higher in more rural or remote constituencies.
The full report “People registered to vote” is available to read online on the NRS website.
Background notes
The corresponding electoral statistics for the whole of the UK is scheduled for publication by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) later in 2025. That publication, which will include figures for Scotland supplied by NRS, will be available on the ONS website.
Resident EU and other foreign nationals (apart from citizens of the Republic of Ireland and qualifying Commonwealth citizens) do not have the right to vote in UK Parliamentary elections, but can vote in Scottish Parliamentary and Local Government Elections. The electoral franchise for these elections was extended, with effect from 1 April 2020, from EU citizens to other qualifying foreign nationals resident in Scotland by the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act 2020.
The data source used to produce electoral statistics holds limited information about voter age and no information about the sex of registered voters.
