In December of last year more than 4.2 million people were registered to vote in the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections, according to new figures from NRS.
This is the first time that electorate data has been collected for the new Scottish Parliamentary constituencies which came into force in October 2025 following a review by Boundaries Commission Scotland. They are the constituencies that will be in effect for the elections in May. The largest was Almond Valley in West Lothian and the smallest Shetland.
In total there were 4,266,700 people registered to vote for Scottish Parliamentary and local council elections. This figure is broadly stable, having decreased by 0.4% on the previous year. It’s a similar picture for UK elections where there were 4,035,600 people registered to vote, down by 0.3% on the previous year. The number on the electoral roll generally increases in the run up to a parliamentary election so the numbers are likely to have increased since December.
Beneath the headline figures, the number of 16 and 17 year olds registered to vote in Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections fell slightly to 74,100 (1.7% of the electorate). This is around 60% of 16 and 17 year olds living in Scotland. The equivalent figure for the total electorate is 92%.
The number of foreign nationals on the electoral register for Scottish Parliamentary elections has increased each year and reached a record high of 198,100 in December 2025, 4.6% of the total electorate. Around 1 in 5 electors are registered to vote by post.
The full report “People registered to vote” is available to read online on the NRS website. It includes figures on the total electorate of each constituency.
The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Monday 20 April. Voters can apply online at gov.uk/register-to-vote. It takes just five minutes.
