Scots migrating from west to east
Scotland is undergoing a population shift from west to east, new figures show.
Edinburgh and the Lothians will be the driving force in continued growth in the number of people living north of the Border.
But many parts of the west coast are facing an ongoing slump in resident numbers.
“When you look at the next ten years, the population is projected to increase for three-quarters of Scotland’s councils with the largest increases projected to occur in and around Edinburgh, the Lothians and East Renfrewshire,” said Amy Wilson, NRS Head of Statistical and Registration Services.
“But for the remaining quarter of the council areas, they’re projected to have a fall in population in the next ten years and they’re all in the west of Scotland.
“So there’s some quite big differences in terms of the geography of Scotland in what’s going to happen in the projections going forward.”
Midlothian has bucked the national trend with a birth rate which outstrips the number of deaths and, along with the capital, has enjoyed higher migration levels then elsewhere in the country.
It means that Midlothian has the highest projected population growth in Scotland to 2026 of 13.3 per cent, followed by East Lothian (8.6 per cent) and the capital (7.7 per cent).
By contrast, Glasgow is predicted to grow at about half this rate, while other west coast areas in Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute, Inverclyde and the Western isles are all facing populations falls.
There were 5,42 million people living in Scotland by mid2017, up by 5 per cent in the last decade. Migration is the main reason for the increase in recent years, with almost 24,000 more people coming to Scotland than leaving. The population is still expected to rise to 5.58 million in 2026 and 5.69 million by 2041.