Scotland’s Census 2022 – Large rise in single person households

The number of people living alone in Scotland increased by more than 100,000 since 2011, according to new census statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

The latest report from Scotland’s Census 2022 - on household demographics and migration - found that there were 2,509,300 households on Census Day with at least one usual resident. This is up 136,500 (5.8%) from the 2011 census.

The increase in the number of households was mostly due to a 106,700 increase in single person households (up 13.0%). The 2021 census in England and Wales showed a smaller percentage increase in single person households (up 5.9%). In Northern Ireland the rise was 19.5%.

Most of the increase in people living alone was in older age groups. In 2022 there were 40,600 more people aged 55 to 64 living alone than in 2011. There were also increases in people living alone among the 65 to 74 and 75 and over age groups.

On average over 55s were as likely to live alone in 2022 as they were a decade earlier (around one in three). So the increase in people living alone was driven by the rise in the overall number of older people from 2011.

In terms of council areas, Na h-Eileanan Siar (13.7%), Argyll & Bute (13.4%) and Inverclyde (12.5%) had the largest percentage of their population aged 55 and over and living alone.

Other results showed a gradual shift from marriage or civil partnerships towards cohabiting. There were 1,251,600 households containing couples in Scotland in 2022 - an increase of 4.5% since 2011 and an increase of 8.1% since 2001. The increase was driven by a rise in households with cohabiting couples, up 25.2% since 2011 and 80.8% since 2001. The percentage of households with couples where the couple were married or in a civil partnership decreased from 86.0% in 2001 to 76.6% in 2022. This reflects a gradual fall in the number of marriages in Scotland over the last 50 years.

The census also revealed information about people who have migrated to Scotland, including how long people have been in the UK, and their age of arrival. Almost half of people born overseas had been living in the UK for 10 or more years (49.8%), while around 1 in 3 people born overseas arrived in the UK aged between 20 and 29 (35.3%). This is likely due to people moving to Scotland to study or work.

Just over half a million (554,900) people living in Scotland were born outside of the UK. The most common country of birth of people born outside the UK was Poland (75,400 people). The next most common country of birth was India (37,700) and then Pakistan (28,900).

Director of Census Statistics for NRS Jon Wroth-Smith said:

“This data provides a great insight into the makeup of households across Scotland and how our communities are changing over time. The richness of census information also allows us to look at the characteristics of people who have migrated to Scotland. This information allows governments, businesses and charities to plan services for the years ahead.”

This is the fourth of seven reports on different topics from the census to be released. Future topics include housing, education and health and will be published in August and September.