Falkirk ranks highest on pensioners

An area of Falkirk has been revealed as the place in Scotland with the largest proportion of pensioners.

New figures from National Records of Scotland (NRS) showed that, in a small area covering part of the town centre and Callendar Park, almost four out of five (79 per cent) residents were aged 65 and over.

The data revealed that, by the end of June last year, Scotland’s population had increased to a record 5,463,300 – a rise of 4.4 per cent over the last decade.

But over the ten-year period the body found po pu lation had decreased in “mainly rural and island council areas, as well as areas in the west of Scotland”.

NRS looked at population statistics for data zones across Scotland, with the country broken down into a total of 6,976 small areas, most of which have between 500 and 999 people living in them.

Over the decade between

June 2009 and June last year, NRS found the population shrank in almost four out of five (79 per cent) data zones in the Inverclyde Council area, with 75 per cent of zones in the Argyll and Bute area and West Dunbartonshire also experiencing population falls.

In contrast, the population increased in 76 per cent of the data zones in the Edinburgh City Council area.

The Falkirk town centre and Callendar Park data zone had the highest median age of residents (72).