Gender: demography
Population by age
In the younger age groups (0-24) there are slightly more males than females in Scotland. In the age groups between 30 and 69 this switches, with women making up slightly more than half the population. This disparity, due to the higher death rate in men, increases with age (see Chart 1) (National Records of Scotland).
Population pyramids from National Records of Scotland compare numbers in the Scottish population by age and sex. These can be accessed through our Older people: demographics page.
Since the early 1980s life expectancy has increased for both men and women in Scotland. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy have consistently been higher for women than men but this gap has narrowed over time (NRS life tables). Women spend a longer time living in ill health as a result of their longer life expectancy. You can find out more about life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at the Healthy Life Expectancy pages of the ScotPHO website.
The most recent data show that life expectancy has stalled in Scotland for both men and women and actually got worse in 2015-17; that is almost unprecedented and requires urgent action. ScotPHO have done a lot of work looking at these trends and what may be causing them; you can find out more at the Recent Mortality Trends pages of the ScotPHO website
Please note: If you require the most up-to-date data available, please check the data sources directly as new data may have been published since these data pages were last updated. Although we endeavour to ensure that the data pages are kept up-to-date, there may be a time lag between new data being published and the relevant ScotPHO web pages being updated.
