Population figures show boys will outnumber girls

The next generation of South Lanarkshire’s men are set to outnumber its women - a complete reversal of the current picture.

According to new population figures released by the Office for National Statistics there are 30,564 girls aged under 18 and 31,641 boys of the same age.

This is a ratio of 1.04 boys for every girl and indicates that a big change may be on the cards when it comes to the gender imbalance.

South Lanarkshire’s population as a whole shows that women outnumber men with 0.93 men for every woman – 163,570 women and 151,790 men. This is in line with the UK-wide pattern.

These latest figures show that the next generation is on course to upset the balance and, if the trend continues, could eventually swing the balance of the entire population over to the male side.

Shetland is currently the only part of Scotland where there are more men of all ages than women of all ages. However, when only children are counted, all 32 of the local authorities in the country have a male-dominated population.

Across the UK as a whole there are 0.97 men of all ages for every woman of all ages.

However, the child population shows a big swing to the boys with 1.05 boys for every girl. No local authority has more girls under 18 than boys under 18.