SCOTLAND’s population rose faster than at any time since the 1940s the first half of last year thanks to people moving to the country from abroad and elsewhere in the UK.

The National Records of Scotland mid-year estimates for 2023 put the country’s population at 5,490,100 – up 43,100 from the middle of 2022.

It is a 0.8% increase on the previous year and the biggest jump in one year since 1946-1947.

The NRS has said the main driver behind the growth was people moving to Scotland from abroad and other parts of the UK, while there was a fall in the number of people leaving Scotland. 

Esther Roughsedge, head of demographic statistics, stressed the population would have fallen if it hadn’t been for migration to Scotland, given deaths outnumbered births by the highest amount on record.

She said: “Almost two-thirds of people moving to Scotland came from outside the UK. We also saw a fall in the number of people leaving Scotland.

“Without migration into Scotland, the population would have fallen. Deaths outnumbered births by the highest amount on record. There were 19,100 more deaths than births.”

Edinburgh's population grew 1.7 per cent in the year to mid-2023Edinburgh's population grew 1.7 per cent in the year to mid-2023 (Image: Jane Barlow)

Inward migration fell slightly compared to the previous 12 months but there was a bigger drop in outward migration.

 Statistics did show Scotland’s population is getting older. More than a fifth of Scotland’s population were 65 and over, with 16% aged 0 to 15 years.

This is due to the baby booms of the previous century and the falling birth rate.

Data showed the populations of the larger cities have grown the most between mid-2022 and mid-2023.

Edinburgh’s population grew by 1.7% or 8680 people, while Glasgow’s population jumped up by 1.6% or 9920 people.

In Aberdeen the population also increased by 1.6% or 3500 people.

In contrast, the populations of a number of rural and island council areas have fallen in the year to mid-2023.

The overall UK population is estimated to have risen by 1% in the year to June 2023, the largest annual percentage increase since comparable data began in 1971, figures suggest.

Some 68,265,200 people were likely to have been resident in the UK in the middle of last year, up 662,400 from 12 months earlier.

The jump of 1% follows a rise of 0.9% in the year to mid-2022, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It means the UK population is estimated to have increased by 1.28 million in the two years to mid-2023.

Net international migration was the main contributor to the rise in population for all four nations of the UK in the year to mid-2023, the ONS said.