2022

Figures published today by NRS show the number of years people in Scotland can expect to live in good health has fallen again.

Between 2018 and 2020, average male Healthy Life Expectancy was 60.9 years while it was 61.8 years for females. Healthy life expectancy has decreased each of the last four years for females and for the last three years for males.

The report, Healthy Life Expectancy 2018 – 2020, also shows that those living in the most deprived communities spend on average 24 years fewer in good health than those living in the least deprived areas. With those in the most deprived areas also dying younger, they spend more than one third of their lives in poor health.

Statistician Maria Kaye-Bardgett said:

“These figures continue a trend we have seen in recent years with healthy life expectancy falling for males and females. Healthy Life Expectancy is a key measure of health and wellbeing in Scotland. These figures are useful for those planning services to meet people’s needs.”

Orkney was the area with the highest healthy life expectancy for both males and females (71.2 years and 77.5 years). The areas with the lowest number of years spent in good health were Inverclyde for males (54.4 years) and North Ayrshire for females (54.0 years).

Background

You can find the report Healthy Life Expectancy 2018-2020 on our website. 

The Healthy Life Expectancy Figures are calculated for all ages which is why we don’t say men/women.

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) is responsible for producing statistics on Scotland’s population.

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff. General information about population statistics can be accessed in the About our Statistics section of the NRS website.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Susie Rose at [email protected]  or Tel: 07500 463 452

Further information about the statistics is available from:
Statistics Customer Services                                
Tel: 0131 314 4299
 E-mail: [email protected]

As at 30 January  2022, 12,946 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

In the week 24 to 30 January, 121 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, a decrease of 25 deaths from the previous week.

15 deaths were aged under 65, 22 were aged 65-74 and there were 84 deaths in people aged 75 or over.

Glasgow City (16 deaths), Fife (13 deaths) and North Lanarkshire (12 deaths) had the highest numbers of deaths at council level. In total, 29 (out of 32) council areas had at least one death last week.

75 deaths were in hospitals, 35 were in care homes, 10 were at home or in a non-institutional setting and there was one death in another institutional setting.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said:

“The latest figures show that last week there were 121 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is 25 fewer deaths than the previous week.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,248, which is 8% fewer than the five year average.”

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland is available on the NRS website.

Background

NRS figures include deaths where ‘suspected’ or ‘probable’ COVID-19 appears on the death certificate.

Data are provisional and subject to change in future weekly publications. The 2021 data will be finalised in summer 2022.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Donna Green
NRS Communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

As at 23 January 2022, 12,823 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

In the week 17 to 23 January, 145 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, an increase of 10 deaths from the previous week.

16 deaths were aged under 65, 18 were aged 65-74, and there were 111 deaths in people aged 75 or over.

Glasgow City (17 deaths), Fife (16 deaths) and North Lanarkshire (13 deaths) had the highest numbers of deaths at council level. In total, 28 (out of 32) council areas had at least one death last week.

91 deaths occurred in hospitals, 43 were in care homes, nine were at home or in a non-institutional setting, and there were two deaths in other institutions.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said:

“The latest figures show that last week there were 145 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is 10 more deaths than the previous week.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,331, which is 5% fewer than the five year average.”

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland is available on the NRS website.

Background

NRS figures include deaths where ‘suspected’ or ‘probable’ COVID-19 appears on the death certificate.

Data are provisional and subject to change in future weekly publications. The 2021 data will be finalised in summer 2022.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Donna Green
NRS Communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

As at 16 January 2022, 12,675 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

In the week 10 to 16 January, 132 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, an increase of 60 deaths from the previous week.

91 deaths were aged 75 or older, 21 were aged 65 to 74, and 20 were under 65. 63 were female and 69 were male.

There were 14 deaths in North Lanarkshire, 13 in South Lanarkshire and 12 in City of Edinburgh. In total 25 council areas (out of 32) had at least one death involving COVID-19 last week.

77 deaths were in hospitals, 45 were in care homes and 10 were at home or a non-institutional setting.

Our monthly analysis shows that the age-standardised rate of COVID-related deaths was lower in December 2021 (66 per 100,000 people) compared to November 2021 (96 per 100,000 people). Throughout the pandemic, the highest rate of COVID-related deaths was 585 per 100,000 people in April 2020. 93% of people whose death involved COVID-19 (11,326 people) had at least one pre-existing condition with the most common condition being dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said:

“The latest figures show that last week there were 132 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is 60 more deaths than the previous week.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,501, which is 27, or 2%, fewer than the five year average.”

The large increase in deaths this week will be partly due to Registrars catching up on a backlog of death registrations following Registration office closures over the holiday period. However, this does not explain all of the increase. Our analysis of deaths by date of occurrence shows that the number of deaths involving COVID-19 began to increase in mid-December, from a low point of six deaths per day to reach an average of 13 deaths per day in early January.

There have been six deaths in Scotland in which the underlying cause of death was due to the adverse effects of vaccination against COVID-19, and one death where an adverse effect was mentioned on the death certificate. This is an increase of one from the figure reported last month. By 31 December 2021, statistics from Public Health Scotland state that 4.4 million people had been given at least one vaccine dose.

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland is available on the NRS website.

Background

NRS figures include deaths where ‘suspected’ or ‘probable’ COVID-19 appears on the death certificate.

Data are provisional and subject to change in future weekly publications. The 2021 data will be finalised in summer 2022.

Media enquiries should be directed to:

Donna Green
NRS Communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:

NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

National Records of Scotland (NRS) today launches a survey to seek customer views on its services and products.

The online survey covers a wide range of public-facing services offered by NRS, from Statistics customer services and Extract services to the Historical Search Room and ScotlandsPeople centre and website.

Paul Lowe, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland, said:

“Since our first customer survey in 2019, we have been through a global pandemic and adapted many of our services to meet changing circumstances. It is more important than ever that we consider customer needs when planning our services.

“This survey is asking for your views on the diverse range of public services we offer. NRS is committed to improving our customer experience and the results of this survey will help us shape how we further improve and develop services in the future.

“I’d encourage anyone who accesses NRS services either in person or online, and those who do so both regularly or for the first time, to get involved and share your views here.”

The survey is being carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Customer Services and runs from 18 January to 4 February 2022.

As at 9 January 2022, 12,543 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

In the week 3 to 9 January, 72 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, an increase of 27 deaths from the previous week. 

12 deaths were aged under 65, 12 were aged 65-74 and there were 48 deaths in people aged 75 or over. 32 were male, 40 were female.

Fife (10 deaths) City of Edinburgh (8 deaths) and Glasgow City (7 deaths) had the highest numbers of deaths at council level. In total, 25 (out of 32) council areas had at least one death last week

49 deaths were in hospitals, 18 were in care homes and 5 were at home or in a non-institutional setting. 

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said:

“The latest figures show that last week there were 72 deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is 27 more deaths than the previous week.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,208, 13% lower than the five year average.

“Statistics based on death registrations can be volatile at this time of year due to a combination of registration office opening hours, how public holidays fall, and decisions people take regarding registering a death during this period.  Care needs to be taken when interpreting data for the first and last few weeks of the year. The real trend will become clearer in the coming weeks.”

As we have moved into a new year, the five-year average which is being used for the calculation of excess deaths has changed. 2022 deaths are being compared against a five year average of the years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. More information on this is available on the NRS website.

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland is available on the NRS website.

Background

NRS figures include deaths where ‘suspected’ or ‘probable’ COVID-19 appears on the death certificate. 

Data are provisional and subject to change in future weekly publications. The 2021 data will be finalised in summer 2022.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Donna Green
NRS Communications
Tel: 07775-027-380
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

New analysis by National Records of Scotland (NRS) projects that Scotland’s population will increase slightly to a peak of 5.48 million in 2028 before falling to 5.39 million by 2045. Currently 5.47 million people live in Scotland.

Should the past trends in births, deaths and migration seen in Scotland continue, the analysis projects that by 2045 there will be 200,000 fewer children (a fall of 22%) and 300,000 more people over 65 (an increase of 30%).

The new report has been compiled by National Records of Scotland (NRS), using data from the Office for National Statistics. It shows that if these projections were realised, Scotland’s population would fall by 1.5% over the next 25 years, whilst the UK population would grow by 5.8%. These latest projections for Scotland and the UK are both lower than previous projections. 

These are the first projections for a number of years to show Scotland’s population starting to fall in the next decade. The previous (2018-based) projections suggested that population growth could stall and then begin to fall after around 25 years.

NRS Head of Population and Migration Statistics, Esther Roughsedge, said:

“Birth rates have been falling steadily for a number of years. Lower birth rates are the main reason these projections are lower than previous ones.

“Life expectancy has stalled since 2012-2014 and COVID-19 has had some impact. But most of the projected change is due to longer-terms trends showing more deaths than births each year.

“As has been the case since mid-2001, more people are projected to move to Scotland than leave each year, but beyond 2028 this will no longer offset the gap between births and deaths. This is the main reason for these figures showing Scotland’s population peaking in the next decade before falling.”

Esther Roughsedge added:

“Projections look at what will happen if current and recent trends continue into the future.

“These statistics are a useful guide for those involved in planning services for the future. A fall in the number of children and increases in the number of older people will change the pattern of demand for services like schools, health and social care.”

The report Population Projection for Scotland (interim) 2020 based is available on the NRS website.

Background

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) is responsible for producing statistics on Scotland’s population.

The report is available now on our website at this link: Population Projection for Scotland (interim) 2020 based.

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff. General information about population statistics can be accessed in the About our Statistics section of the NRS website.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Susie Rose, Senior Media Manager.
Tel: 07500 463 452
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
Statistics Customer Services                                
Tel: 0131 314 4299
E-mail: [email protected]

As at 2 January, 12,470 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) today.

Between 20 December and 2 January 97 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate.

The number of deaths for week 51, 20 to 26 December, was 53 while 44 deaths were registered in the following week from 27 December to 2 January.

Total deaths from all causes in week 51 were 1,336 (5% above the five-year average) and in week 52 there were 1,076 (1% above average).

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: 

“Death registrations at this time of year are affected by public holidays. As a result the number of registered deaths is likely to be artificially low. We will have a more complete picture in the coming weeks.”

In the most recent week, 21 of the 44 deaths registered were male while 23 were female. 14 deaths were aged under 65, 6 were aged 65-74 and there were 24 deaths in people aged 75 or over. The City of Edinburgh Council and Glasgow City Council had the highest numbers of deaths at council level with six in each area. In total, 21 (out of 32) council areas had at least one death last week.

Background

The publication Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland is available on the NRS website. Breakdowns of these figures by date, underlying cause of death, and location can be found under the Data and Charts section of the same page as the publication.

NRS figures include deaths where ‘suspected’ or ‘probable’ COVID-19 appears on the death certificate.

Data are provisional and subject to change in future weekly publications. The data will be finalised in summer.

Media enquiries should be directed to:

Susie Rose
NRS communications
Tel: 07500 463452
Email: [email protected]

Further information about the statistics is available from:
NRS Customer Services
Email: [email protected]

Files to be opened for the first time by National Records of Scotland will be made available online this week, revealing the content of Scottish Cabinet discussions in 2006.

That year, First Minister Jack McConnell’s Cabinet considered a wide range of topics including criminal justice matters, drug abuse and rehabilitation, transport issues such as bridges and ferry services, and much more.

These records are being made available to the public as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to proactively release records after 15 years.

The Scottish Cabinet records will be publicly accessible free of charge via the NRS research website ScotlandsPeople from 6 January 2022.

Welcoming the latest release, Minister for Parliamentary Business George Adam said:

“The rich resource of information that’s been made available for members of the public to view and the wealth of documents published on our own website show our commitment to openness and transparency.

“I am grateful for the work NRS has undertaken to allow these records to be made available online, which will make it easier for historians, journalists and all those with an interest in the history of Scotland and its governance to make use of this valuable resource.”

Paul Lowe, Chief Executive of NRS, said:

“The Scottish Cabinet records are a fascinating insight into the inner workings of our democracy. They help to increase our understanding of our own recent history and they will be a great resource for researchers and for future historians.”

“These files will be available to view at home as part of NRS’s commitment to making more of our collections accessible online to a much wider audience, as and when you need them.”

“These records cover a wide range of important topics, including the smoking ban implemented in March of 2006; the threat of terrorism; operation of public utilities and efforts to tackle alcohol abuse.”

Background

The list of Scottish Government records released in 2022 can be viewed in PDF. This includes the Scottish Cabinet records available via ScotlandsPeople, and further records only available in our historical search room after General Register House reopens on 5 January following the new year holidays.

Bookings to visit the historical search room can be made via our online booking service.

Please note that you will need a current reader’s ticket to view files in our search room, and that records will need to be ordered in advance.

Details on how to book, obtain a reader’s ticket and what preparations to make can be found on our website.