Population dynamics: overview

This part of the website describes various related aspects of population dynamics - population, pregnancy and births, deaths, recent mortality trends, migration and healthy life expectancy. For each topic there is an overview, examples of local and national trends, key data sources, references and useful web links. There is also a 2007 report on amenable mortality (mortality that can theoretically be averted by good health care) in the Publications area.

Information about population dynamics is of fundamental importance for policy-making and planning across a range of policy areas from health to the economy, at both local and national level.

Scotland's population has increased since 2002, mainly due to inmigration. There were more births than deaths during the 2006-2014 period, but since then birth numbers have strongly decreased and deaths have increased, and the process has reverted. This increase in the death rate breaks a consistent downward trajectory that had continued for over 100 years. There is more information about the recent mortality trends in this section. Scotland still has one of the highest death rates in Western Europe, and large variations in mortality persist between affluent and deprived areas.

Demographic change is a major issue for Scotland. As in many other relatively wealthy developed countries, Scotland's population is getting steadily older. In the last 100 years the number of people aged 65 or over has risen by over two-thirds of a million. There are now just over 1 million people in this age group and this number is predicted to rise substantially over the next 25 years and beyond.