In 2023, there were approximately 631,970 people living in Glasgow, with a further 523,250 people living in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, the first and second most-populated Scottish council areas respectively. The region of Fife is also heavily populated, with approximately 373,210 people living there. The least populated areas are the islands of Scotland such as Orkney, estimated to have only 22,000 people there.

Demographic data for patients registered to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board data, for linkage to West of Scotland Safe Haven data packages. The demography dataset contains a single record for each patient in a study cohort, with details for the most recent time the person was treated at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Data includes gender, age, and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) zone information.

The population of the United Kingdom in 2023 was estimated to be approximately 68.3 million in 2023, with almost 9.48 million people living in South East England. London had the next highest population, at over 8.9 million people, followed by the North West England at 7.6 million. With the UK's population generally concentrated in England, most English regions have larger populations than the constituent countries of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, which had populations of 5.5 million, 3.16 million, and 1.92 million respectively. English counties and cities The United Kingdom is a patchwork of various regional units, within England the largest of these are the regions shown here, which show how London, along with the rest of South East England had around 18 million people living there in this year. The next significant regional units in England are the 47 metropolitan and ceremonial counties. After London, the metropolitan counties of the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, and West Yorkshire were the biggest of these counties, due to covering the large urban areas of Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds respectively. Regional divisions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland The smaller countries that comprise the United Kingdom each have different local subdivisions. Within Scotland these are called council areas whereas in Wales the main regional units are called unitary authorities. Scotland's largest Council Area by population is that of Glasgow City at over 622,000, while in Wales, it was the Cardiff Unitary Authority at around 372,000. Northern Ireland, on the other hand, has eleven local government districts, the largest of which is Belfast with a population of around 348,000.

Data shows projected population for Glasgow City Council (2012 Based) for the years 2012-2037. A projection is a calculation which shows what happens if particular assumptions are made. It is important to have high quality statistics on projected population change as this can be used for policy development, planning and providing public services in different geographical areas. They are used in central and local finance allocation, informing the provision of nurseries or day care centres, informing local and national policy, housing and land use planning, health care planning among others. They are trends based and not policy based of what the government expects to happen. They are affected by many social and economic factors including policies adopted by the central and local governments. The assumptions made for the datasets are based on the trends in 2012 and this is due to change in the following years as affected by factors listed above. More information about Population Projections can be found here (c) Crown copyright. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland Website Licence: None migration-assumption-for-principal-projection-2012.json - https://dataservices.open.glasgow.gov.uk/Download/Organisation/cb95330b-d7c0-472b-b3a7-a1b520bffd18/Dataset/fd581213-acd9-4c64-a8af-ddb1313872ba/File/0d3a8cdb-7501-44fe-acdf-4424b64aba91/Version/c6ce2385-4d55-474b-be48-f5197b723355 population-projection-by-sex-and-age-group-2012-based.json - https://dataservices.open.glasgow.gov.uk/Download/Organisation/cb95330b-d7c0-472b-b3a7-a1b520bffd18/Dataset/fd581213-acd9-4c64-a8af-ddb1313872ba/File/ba3aae9d-01f1-4111-9fc6-79a463292046/Version/2d3aa181-e0d1-4cd3-ab07-6df09c2d896e projected-births-in-glasgow.json - https://dataservices.open.glasgow.gov.uk/Download/Organisation/cb95330b-d7c0-472b-b3a7-a1b520bffd18/Dataset/fd581213-acd9-4c64-a8af-ddb1313872ba/File/e6e0d838-da42-4d11-84a4-8761621817dc/Version/07d94424-6d8a-4dd0-8234-24593df050a8 projected-pop-change-in-glasgow-2012-based.json - https://dataservices.open.glasgow.gov.uk/Download/Organisation/cb95330b-d7c0-472b-b3a7-a1b520bffd18/Dataset/fd581213-acd9-4c64-a8af-ddb1313872ba/File/21d74834-681b-42ff-b25e-e5eaabc05781/Version/ae2016b2-349c-4cc7-a34d-583a49556d3d

In 2020, there were estimated to be 406,000 non-British nationals living in Scotland. This represented about 8% of Scotland’s population. Of all non-British nationals, 61% were EU nationals (247,000) and 39% were non-EU nationals (159,000). Prior to 2010, the populations of EU and non-EU nationals living in Scotland were similar. Since 2010, the population of EU nationals has consistently been higher than the population of non-EU nationals. Polish was the most common non-British nationality in Scotland in 2020, with 92,000 nationals (23% of the total non-British population). The council areas with the largest proportion of residents with a non-British nationality were Aberdeen City (20%), City of Edinburgh (19%), and Glasgow City (12%).

Death rates for all causes (per 1,000 population) for Glasgow and Scotland from 1991 to 2012. The Glasgow death rates are given for the crude death rate or as standardised using the age/sex- specific rates for Scotland.

In 2023, the population of the United Kingdom reached 68.3 million, compared with 67.6 million in 2022. The UK population has more than doubled since 1871 when just under 31.5 million lived in the UK and has grown by around 8.2 million since the start of the twenty-first century. For most of the twentieth century, the UK population steadily increased, with two noticeable drops in population occurring during World War One (1914-1918) and in World War Two (1939-1945). Demographic trends in postwar Britain After World War Two, Britain and many other countries in the Western world experienced a 'baby boom,' with a postwar peak of 1.02 million live births in 1947. Although the number of births fell between 1948 and 1955, they increased again between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s, with more than one million people born in 1964. Since 1964, however, the UK birth rate has fallen from 18.8 births per 1,000 people to a low of just 10.2 in 2020. As a result, the UK population has gotten significantly older, with the country's median age increasing from 37.9 years in 2001 to 40.7 years in 2022. What are the most populated areas of the UK? The vast majority of people in the UK live in England, which had a population of 57.7 million people in 2023. By comparison, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland had populations of 5.44 million, 3.13 million, and 1.9 million, respectively. Within England, South East England had the largest population, at over 9.38 million, followed by the UK's vast capital city of London, at 8.8 million. London is far larger than any other UK city in terms of urban agglomeration, with just four other cities; Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, and Glasgow, boasting populations that exceed one million people.

In 2023, the population of the United Kingdom was around 68.3 million, with approximately 34.5 million women and 33.1 million men. Since 1953, the male population of the UK has grown by around 9.1 million, while the female population has increased by approximately 8.5 million. Throughout this provided time period, the female population of the UK has consistently outnumbered the male population. UK population one of the largest in Europe As of 2022, the population of the United Kingdom was the largest it has ever been, and with growth expected to continue, the forecasted population of the United Kingdom is expected to reach over 70 million by the 2030s. Despite the relatively small size of its territory, the UK has one of the largest populations among European countries, slightly larger than France but smaller than Russia and Germany. As of 2022, the population density of the UK was approximately 279 people per square kilometer, with London by far the most densely populated area, and Scotland the most sparsely populated. Dominance of London As seen in the data regarding population density, the population of the United Kingdom is not evenly distributed across the country. Within England, London has a population of almost nine million, making it significantly bigger than the next largest cities of Birmingham and Manchester. As of 2022, Scotland's largest city, Glasgow had a population of around 1.7 million, with the largest cities in Northern Ireland, and Wales being Belfast and Cardiff, which had populations of 643,000 and 488,000 respectively.

London was by far the largest urban agglomeration in the United Kingdom in 2023, with an estimated population of 9.65 million people, more than three times as large as Manchester, the UK’s second-biggest urban agglomeration. The agglomerations of Birmingham and Leeds / Bradford had the third and fourth-largest populations respectively, while the biggest city in Scotland, Glasgow, was the fifth largest. Largest cities in Europe Two cities in Europe had larger urban areas than London, with the Russian capital Moscow having a population of almost 12.7 million. The city of Paris, located just over 200 miles away from London, was the second-largest city in Europe, with a population of more than 11.2 million people. Paris was followed by London in terms of population-size, and then by the Spanish cities of Madrid and Barcelona, at 6.75 million and 5.68 million people respectively. Russia's second-biggest city; St. Petersburg had a population of 5.56 million, followed by Rome at 4.3 million, and Berlin at 3.5 million. London’s population growth Throughout the 1980s, the population of London fluctuated from a high of 6.81 million people in 1981 to a low of 6.73 million inhabitants in 1988. During the 1990s, the population of London increased once again, growing from 6.8 million at the start of the decade to 7.15 million by 1999. London's population has continued to grow since the turn of the century, reaching a peak of 8.96 million people in 2019, and is forecast to reach 9.8 million by 2043.

This dataset portrays the boundaries of ‘Settlements’ in Scotland as at 2001 Census.

There is widespread interest in statistics for the built-up areas in Scotland as most of the population lives in a built-up environment. When the former two-tier local government structure of regions and districts came into being in May 1975, the small local authorities known as large and small burghs were lost. However, Census users stated that there was a need to know the population (and characteristics) of built-up areas.

There are 2 datasets which are designed to show the boundaries of ‘urban areas’ in Scotland: ‘Localities’ and ‘Settlements’. While “Settlements’ can go a long way in defining the towns and cities in Scotland, some are very extensive and have grouped together some very large populations. For example the settlement of ‘Greater Glasgow’ has a large population but no breakdown was given of the settlement into any constituent towns or cities such as Airdrie or Paisley. Accordingly, since 2001, the larger ‘Settlements’ have been divided into ‘Localities’ using as a basis the areas so designated in the 1991 Census report ‘Key statistics for ‘localities’ in Scotland (ISBN 0-11-495736-3)’.

For the 2001 Census, NRS had developed a new process to identify ‘Settlements’ which were defined as:

‘A collection of contiguous high population density postcodes whose total population was 500 or more, bounded by low density postcodes (or water).’

2011 Census day estimates of resident population and households by data zone.

(C) Crown copyright, 2013. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland Website

According a walking and cycling survey in 2021, the majority of the population in Scottish cities reported to have walked one to eight times a week during the past seven days for the purpose of transport. Edinburgh and Glasgow had the highest share of residents who walked more than 13 times a week at a share of 22 and 23 percent, respectively, whereas Inverness had the highest share of residents that didn't walk at all in the previous seven days for the purpose of traveling at a rate of 25 percent.

There were 355 drug-related deaths in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS board area in 2023, the highest figure in Scotland in this year. Although it should be noted that the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area is the NHS board with the highest population in Scotland. Additionally, there were over a hundred drug-related deaths in the Lothian and Lanarkshire health boards.

The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) series was established in 1995. Commissioned by the Scottish Government Health Directorates, the series provides regular information on aspects of the public's health and factors related to health which cannot be obtained from other sources. The SHeS series was designed to:

• estimate the prevalence of particular health conditions in Scotland;
• estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these health conditions and to document the pattern of related health behaviours;
• look at differences between regions and between subgroups of the population in the extent of their having these particular health conditions or risk factors, and to make comparisons with other national statistics for Scotland and England;
• monitor trends in the population's health over time;
• make a major contribution to monitoring progress towards health targets.

Each survey in the series includes a set of core questions and measurements (height and weight and, if applicable, blood pressure, waist circumference, urine and saliva samples), plus modules of questions on specific health conditions that vary from year to year. Each year the core sample has also been augmented by an additional boosted sample for children. Since 2008 NHS Health Boards have also had the opportunity to boost the number of adult interviews carried out in their area.

The Scottish Government Scottish Health Survey webpages contain further information about the series, including latest news and publications.

The Scottish Health Survey, 2011 was designed to provide data at a national level about the population living in private households in Scotland. The sample for the 2011 survey, as in previous years, was drawn from the Postcode Address File (PAF). An initial sample of 10,431 addresses was selected and grouped into 473 interviewer batches, with around 39 batches covered each month between January and December 2011. The addresses comprised three sample types:

• 7,971 formed the main sample, at which adults and children were eligible to be selected for interview
• 1,944 addresses formed an additional child boost sample at which only households containing children aged 0-15 were eligible to participate
• 516 addresses (in Grampian, Fife and Borders) formed the Health Board boost sample, at which only adults were eligible for interview.

Latest edition information

For the fifth edition (July 2021) OECD equivalised income derived variables were added to the individual file. The new variables are: OECD (OECD household score for equivalised income); eqvinc_15 (Equivalised income - OECD score); eqv5_15 (Equivalised Income Quintiles); and eqv10_15 (Equivalised Income Deciles).

In 2023, almost nine million people lived in Greater London, making it the most populated ceremonial county in England. The West Midlands Metropolitan County, which contains the large city of Birmingham, was the second-largest county at 2.98 million inhabitants, followed by Greater Manchester and then West Yorkshire with populations of 2.95 million and 2.4 million, respectively. Kent, Essex, and Hampshire were the three next-largest counties in terms of population, each with around 1.89 million people. A patchwork of regions England is just one of the four countries that compose the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with England, Scotland and Wales making up Great Britain. England is therefore not to be confused with Great Britain or the United Kingdom as a whole. Within England, the next subdivisions are the nine regions of England, containing various smaller units such as unitary authorities, metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. The counties in this statistic, however, are based on the ceremonial counties of England as defined by the Lieutenancies Act of 1997. Regions of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Like England, the other countries of the United Kingdom have their own regional subdivisions, although with some different terminology. Scotland’s subdivisions are council areas, while Wales has unitary authorities, and Northern Ireland has local government districts. As of 2022, the most-populated Scottish council area was Glasgow City, with over 622,000 inhabitants. In Wales, Cardiff had the largest population among its unitary authorities, and in Northern Ireland, Belfast was the local government area with the most people living there.

Dundee City's crime rate of 847 crimes per 10,000 people was the highest of any region of Scotland in 2023/24. The rate for the whole of Scotland was 550 per 10,000 people, which appears to be driven by low crime in places such as the Orkney and Shetland Islands, with almost all Scottish cities reporting higher than average crime rates. In Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, the crime rate was 812 crimes per 10,000 people, while in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, the crime rate was 679 per 10,000 population. Comparisons with the rest of the UK When compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, Scotland has experienced a noticeable decline in its overall crime rate. In 2008/09 for example, Scotland's crime rate was higher than that of England and Wales, as well as Northern Ireland, the other two jurisdictions in the UK. In 2022/23, however, Scotland's crime rate was the lowest in the UK, with the crime rate in England and Wales rising noticeably during the same period. Scotland's homicide rate has also fallen, from being the highest in the UK in 2002/03, to the lowest as of 2022/23. Theft and fraud drive recent crime uptick There was a slight increase in the number of crimes recorded by the Scottish police in 2023/24, when compared with the previous year. Although many other types of crimes declined during this reporting year, the number of theft offences has increased, reaching 111,054 offences in 2023/24. Fraud crime has also increased significantly in recent years, with 16,789 offences in 2022/23, compared with just 6,913 in 2014/15. The recent uptick in fraud and theft offences is also reflected in the jurisdiction England and Wales.