Key Findings:
- The new, rebased, figures showed that the population of Scotland increased by 2.2% between 2011 and 2021. The original figures showed the population increasing by 3.4% over the same period. The difference is mainly due to improvements in the figures for international migration.
- The rebasing had a bigger impact on the population estimates for young adults, and the figures for the largest cities. This is because these are the age groups and areas where international migration is highest.
- These statistics replace the previously published mid-year population estimates and form the new official estimates for the population of Scotland from 2011 to 2021.
These rebased statistics replace the previously published mid-year population estimates and form the new official estimates for the population of Scotland from mid-2011 to mid-2021.
Open data and data visualisations
Rebased population estimates, as well as accompanying migration estimates, will be updated on statistics.gov.scot shortly after publication.
We will also aim to update and upload our data visualisations, incorporating the rebased mid-year estimates as soon as possible.
