Record high 5.4m people now living in Scotland

An increase in immigration has helped Scotland’s population reach a new record high of more than 5.4 million, official figures have revealed.

The number of people living in Scotland had dipped to 5.06 million in 2000 but growth since then means the estimated total reached 5,404,700 by the end of June 2016 – the largest number ever and an increase of 31,700 over the year.

Net migration from overseas helped to swell the population by 22,900, while 8,800 more people came to live in Scotland from the rest of the UK than the total who moved south of the border.

Scotland’s population would have remained unchanged without immigration, with the National Records of Scotland figures showing there were 800 more deaths than births in the 12 months leading up to June 2016.

Other changes, including the number of armed forces personnel based in Scotland and prisoner numbers, increased the population by 800 over the period.

External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the data underlined the “key role migration has to play in our work to grow Scotland’s population”.

People coming to Scotland to live tended to be younger than the general population, according to the figures.