• Explores differences between parts of Scotland, looking at the 32 Scottish council areas.
• Focus on fertility, mortality and migration, of which there are considerable differences across
Scotland.
• These differences may have important policy implications for the Scottish Government.
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• Despite a population of only 5.12 million (in
2006), Scotland shows considerable economic and social diversity.
• The first main division is between the east – a relatively prosperous area (finance and oil) and the west, an ex-industrial area suffering from relative economic decline.
• The second division is between the rural areas: the islands, highlands in the north and southern uplands and the populous urban areas in the central lowlands (or ‘Central Belt’).
General Register Office for
S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

General Register Office for
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• Considerable differences between characteristics of council areas – generally large rural council areas and small urban council areas.
• Largest is the Highland council area (30,659 km 2 – roughly the same size as Belgium) with a mid-
2006 population of 215,310.
• Smallest is the Dundee City council area (60 km 2 ) with a mid-2006 population of 142,170.
• Largest mid-2006 population is 580,690 in the
Glasgow City council area, smallest is 19,770 in the Orkney Islands council area.
General Register Office for
S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

General Register Office for
S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

General Register Office for
S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

• Significant differences in age structures across Scotland – impacts on crude birth & death rates.
• In Dumfries & Galloway, Eilean Siar, South Ayrshire,
Argyll & Bute and Scottish Borders, more than 25% of the population are aged over 60.
• At the other extreme, less than 20% of the populations of
West Lothian, North Lanarkshire and City of Edinburgh are aged over 60.
• The areas containing large higher education institutions
(City of Edinburgh, Dundee City, Glasgow City &
Aberdeen City) have high proportions of 15-29 year olds in their populations with City of Edinburgh the highest at
24% (the Scottish average is 19%).
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S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

General Register Office for
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• Crude birth rates were standardised to the age composition of Scotland as age structure has a strong influence on crude birth rates
• After standardisation, rural areas show a marked improvement in their relative standing and the large urban areas – particularly the traditional
‘University Cities’ become worse.
• West Central Scotland shows relatively low rates after standardisation, with the exceptions of East
Renfrewshire and North Lanarkshire.
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S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

General Register Office for
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• Crude death rates were standardised to the age composition of Scotland.
• After standardisation, rural areas show a marked improvement in their relative standing (in particular,
Dumfries & Galloway, Eilean Siar & South Ayrshire).
• Glasgow City becomes much worse as the beneficial effect of a youthful age structure is removed
• Standardisation has a similar effect on North Lanarkshire
& West Lothian.
• Eilean Siar slightly improves its relative standing, but remains an area with very high mortality compared to similar rural areas.
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General Register Office for
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• Scotland declined from 5.18 million in 1981 to 5.12 million in 2006 (-1.2%).
• Decline in population not evenly spread across Scotland:
• 6 council areas grew by more than 10% (largest was
Aberdeenshire at 25%) in the same period
• And 6 council areas fell by more than 10% (largest fall was
Inverclyde at -19%)
• Uneven patterns of growth and decline driven by considerable differences in natural change and migration levels.
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General Register Office for
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General Register Office for
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• The highest proportion of births to unmarried mothers are found in Dundee City and in many of the councils in Glasgow area.
• Nearly 60% of births in Dundee City are to unmarried parents.
• Glasgow City has the highest proportion of births to solely registered mothers (10%)
• The Shetland Islands have the lowest proportion of births to solely registered mothers (3%), closely followed by the Orkneys.
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S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

General Register Office for
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• Since early ‘80s, Scotland has worsened from 1.01 per
1,000 to 1.19 per 1,000.
• Only seven Council Areas have lowered their age specific death rates (for males aged 15 to 34) since the early ‘80s.
• Worst area is Eilean Siar (2.14 per 1,000 up from 1.78 per
1,000 in early 80s)
• Best area is Stirling (0.75 per 1,000 down from 0.97 per
1,000 in early 80s – the greatest improvement in both absolute and relative terms.)
• The largest increase (in both absolute and relative terms) was in the Shetland Islands, which rose from 0.8 per 1,000 in the early 80s to 1.74 per 1,000.
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General Register Office for
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General Register Office for
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All migrants as a percentage of age group population by age group, Edinburgh, 2002-06
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All migrants as a percentage of age group population by age group, East Lothian, 2002-06
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All migrants as a percentage of age group population by age group, Orkney Islands, 2002-06
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All migrants as a percentage of age group population by age group, North Lanarkshire, 2002-06
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• City of Edinburgh displays typical pattern for university town (similar to
Glasgow City, Dundee City & Aberdeen City) with peak in net in-migration of
18 to 24 year old adults entering higher education and employment.
• East Lothian is typical of a ‘feeder’ local authority – net out-migration of 18 to
24 year old adults leaving to go on to higher education, but net in-migration of older people and young children as families move in (and commute to
Edinburgh).
• The relative lack of both higher education and employment opportunities, combined with relative isolation means that a large proportion of young people leave Orkney Islands (which is generally typical of rural areas), however there is a slight net inward migration across older age groups.
• North Lanarkshire is typical of Scotland’s less affluent areas, with low levels of gross inward or outward migration.
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General Register Office for
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• ‘Mother’s Place of Birth’ data gives a useful indication of where in-migrants may be settling in Scotland.
• City of Edinburgh shows the highest proportion of births to mothers not from Scotland.
• Glasgow City shows the highest proportion of births to mothers from overseas (predominantly from Asia)
• Moray shows the highest proportion of births to mothers from
England (most likely to be military families)
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S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

General Register Office for
S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

• councils with high standardised death rates tend to show similar characteristics, including:
– Low levels of inward migration
– High levels of solely registered births
– Low levels of qualifications and employment
• Converse is true for councils with low standardised death rates, although migration pattern is slightly less clear.
• Patterns of standardised birth rates are not strongly associated with patterns of standardised death rates.
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• A lot of differences
• Lack of demographic dynamism in West Central Scotland (high death rates, low international in-migration)
• Increasing difference (especially mortality, age of childbirth)
• Dynamic rural areas, especially around the cities (high birth rates, low death rates, significant in-migration)
• 2006 Annual Report and supplementary data can be downloaded from the GRO(S) website:
• http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/annrep/index.html
General Register Office for
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• Charts give an indication of underlying growth, stripped of the influence of age structure and can give an indication of relative demographic performance.
• In 1981-85, only 6 councils had an Standardised
Birth Rate below Standardised Death Rate. By
2001-05, this had increased to 17 councils.
• The 4 ‘city’ council areas (Aberdeen, Edinburgh,
Dundee & Glasgow) have negative underlying natural change in both time periods.
• Affluent rural / suburban councils tend to have positive underlying natural change in both periods.
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General Register Office for
S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people

General Register Office for
S C O T L A N D information about Scotland's people