This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for the Religion by Individuals in Scotland.

Religion

This is a person’s current religious denomination or body that they belong to, or if the person does not have a religion, ‘No Religion’. No determination is made about whether a person was a practising member of a religion.

Religion is a voluntary question and 6.2% of the population did not provide a response. Please be aware that when we state percentages these are out of the whole population, not just those that provided a response. Our approach to imputation is also different for voluntary questions. Not stating a religion is considered to be a valid response, so we do not impute a religion for those who responded to the census but did not answer the religion question. However, we do impute religion for those who did not respond at all to the census. 'Not stated’ is one of the values that can be imputed for religion. More information on our edit and imputation method is available on the Scotland’s Census website.

Classification and comparison with 2011 census can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for the Gaelic language skills (in 7 categories) by age (in 6 categories) by Individuals in Scotland.

Age

A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age.

Gaelic Language skills

A classification of a persons skills in the Gaelic Language

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

This dataset is published as Open Data. Scotland's Census 2022 - Output Area Geographies. This dataset can be used to join published tables of data to, creating either their geographies or additional table datasets.The boundaries are available at Extent of the Realm and clipped to the Mean High Water (MHW) Mark with inland water removed.Description: Output Areas created by aggregating frozen postcodes.Output Code: A code that identifies a Census 2022 Output Area (OA).Households: 2022 Census occupied household count at OA level. Cell Key Perturbation has been applied to Scotland’s Census 2022 outputs. This means that small adjustments are made automatically to cells in tables, including the Postcode to Output Area lookup. This is part of our Statistical Disclosure Control methodology, you can read more on the Scotland’s Census website.Population: 2022 Census household population count at OA level. Cell Key Perturbation has been applied to Scotland’s Census 2022 outputs. This means that small adjustments are made automatically to cells in tables, including the Postcode to Output Area lookup. This is part of our Statistical Disclosure Control methodology, you can read more on the Scotland’s Census website.Local Authority Code: A code that identifies a 2019 Council Area.Master Postcode: Postcode assigned as the Master Postcode for Output Area.

output area centroids scotland's census 2022 - open dataThis dataset shows the 2022 Census Output Areas (OAs). OAs are the smallest geographical unit for which Census data is released, and as a result, they act as the basic “building-blocks” for the creation of other statistical geographies, e.g. Data Zones. The OAs are constructed by aggregating together a small number of Postcodes. Because the OAs cover small areas and contain relatively small numbers of households and population (households in the range 25 to 89; population >= 60), there is only a limited amount of Census data that can be released without infringing confidentiality.An important requirement during the creation of the 2022 OAs was to attempt to keep the boundaries the same, or similar, as the 2011 OAs – this would make it easier to compare over the time periodSchema;Local Authority CodeLocal AuthorityOutput Area CodeMaster PostcodeEasting (X)Northing (Y)

This dataset is published as Open Data. Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic Groupings. This table can be used to join to the published Output Area Geographies, creating either their geographies or additional table datasets.The boundaries are available at Extent of the Realm and clipped to the Mean High Water (MHW) Mark with inland water removed.Description: Output Areas created by aggregating frozen postcodes.Output Code: A code that identifies a Census 2022 Output Area (OA).Households: 2022 Census occupied household count at OA level. Cell Key Perturbation has been applied to Scotland’s Census 2022 outputs. This means that small adjustments are made automatically to cells in tables, including the Postcode to Output Area lookup. This is part of our Statistical Disclosure Control methodology, you can read more on the Scotland’s Census website.Population: 2022 Census household population count at OA level. Cell Key Perturbation has been applied to Scotland’s Census 2022 outputs. This means that small adjustments are made automatically to cells in tables, including the Postcode to Output Area lookup. This is part of our Statistical Disclosure Control methodology, you can read more on the Scotland’s Census website.Local Authority Code: A code that identifies a 2019 Council Area.Master Postcode: Postcode assigned as the Master Postcode for Output Area.

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for the National identity by Individuals in Scotland.

National identity

A classification of a person's national identity.

National identity is a feeling of attachment to a nation. This does not need to be the same as ethnic group or legal nationality (citizenship). For example, this could be about the country or countries where a person feels they belong or they think of as home.

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for the Scots language skills (in 7 categories) by sex by age (in 20 categories) by Individuals in Scotland.

Age

A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age.

Sex

This is the sex recorded by the person completing the census. The options were "Female" and "Male". Guidance on answering the question can be found here

Scots language skills

A classification of a persons skills in the Scots Language (Scottish Gaelic or Scots). It breaks down into combinations of "Understand (spoken)", "Speak", "Read" and "Write".

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

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.

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for Provision of unpaid care for all people aged 3 and over by Sex by Age ( in 6 categories) in Scotland.

Age

A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age.

Sex

This is the sex recorded by the person completing the census. The options were "Female" and "Male". Guidance on answering the question can be found here

Provision of unpaid care

A person is a provider of unpaid care if they look after or give help or support to family members, friends, neighbours because of long-term physical or mental ill health or disability, or problems related to old age. This does not include any activities as part of paid employment. No distinction is made about whether any care that a person provides is within their own household or outside the household, so no explicit link can be made about whether the care provided is for a person within the household who has poor general health or a long-term health problem or disability.

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

Data Zone centroids are point features that represent the population weighted centre of Data Zones – the key geography for the dissemination of small area statistics in Scotland. These centroids are used to link Data Zones to other higher level geographies and produce a 'best-fit' match. Data Zones can then be aggregated to approximate this larger area of interest or higher level geography for which official statistics might not otherwise be available. Data Zones also represent a relatively stable geography that can be used to analyse change over time, with changes only occurring after a Census. Following the update to Data Zones using 2022 Census data, there are now 7,392 Data Zones covering the whole of Scotland.

In 2023, the population of Scotland was approximately 5.49 million, compared with 2000 when the population was just over five million. Between 1974 and 2000, the population of Scotland fell by 172,600, before growing at a relatively fast rate after 2000, and surpassing the 1974 population by 2010.

The Scottish Government published updated versions of Data Zones and Intermediate Zones (December 2024).Data Zones and Intermediate Zones have been updated to reflect changes to population and other geographical boundaries since they were last revised in 2014 following the 2011 Census. In particular, the proposed changes have been produced to align with new population data from the 2022 Census.Data Zones are the key geography for the dissemination of small area statistics in Scotland and are widely used across the public sector. Composed of groups of Census Output Areas, Data Zones are large enough that statistics can be presented accurately without fear of disclosure and yet small enough that they can be used to represent communities. They are designed to have roughly standard populations of 500 to 1,000 household residents, nest within local authorities (at the time of the Census), and have compact shapes that respect physical boundaries where possible. When Data Zones were originally created for the 2001 Census, they were designed to contain households with similar social characteristics. Aggregations of Data Zones can be used to provide estimates for higher level geographies where official statistics might not otherwise be available. Data Zones also represent a relatively stable geography that can be used to analyse change over time, with changes only occurring after a Census. Following the update to Data Zones using 2022 Census data, there are now 7,392 Data Zones covering the whole of Scotland.What are Data Zones and Intermediate Zones?Data Zones are statistical geographies used to produce small area statistics at a local level. They are designed to have a population of between 500 and 1,000 people, making them small enough to describe communities while also being large enough to avoid disclosing personal information.They serve two main functions in the production of official statistics. Firstly, they provide a standard, stable geography for the production and publication of statistics at a local area on a wide range of topics. Secondly, aggregations of Data Zones can be used to provide estimates for higher level geographies where official statistics might not otherwise be available.Intermediate Zones are similar to Data Zones but cover a larger population and area. They are used to produce local area statistics where statistics cannot be published at Data Zone level due to the risk of disclosing sensitive information.How Data Zones and Intermediate Zones will be usedThe revised Data Zones boundaries have been published on the Scottish Government’s spatial data platform and are now available for use by statistics producers.Data Zone BoundariesData Zone CentroidsIntermediate Zone BoundariesIntermediate Zone CentroidsA csv geography lookup table aggregating from 2022 Data Zones to higher level geographies is available on statistics.gov.scot.Census data for the new Data Zones and Intermediate Zones will be published in 2025. A lookup file that links Census Output Areas to Data Zones and Intermediate Zones has been published by National Records of Scotland.If you have any questions about Data Zones and Intermediate Zones please contact statistics.enquiries@gov.scot.Statistics Updates to Data Zones and Intermediate Zones now published - Statistics

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for the Ethnic Group (in 19 categories) by age (in 6 categories) in Scotland.

Age

A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age.

Ethnic group

Ethnic group classifies people according to their own perceived ethnic group and cultural background. Whilst the main ethnic group categories have not changed from the question asked in Census 2011, some of the detailed response options and write-in prompts for Scotland's Census 2022 were changed based on stakeholder engagement and subsequent question testing.

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

The Scottish Government published updated versions of Data Zones and Intermediate Zones (December 2024).Data Zones and Intermediate Zones have been updated to reflect changes to population and other geographical boundaries since they were last revised in 2014 following the 2011 Census. In particular, the proposed changes have been produced to align with new population data from the 2022 Census.Data Zones are the key geography for the dissemination of small area statistics in Scotland and are widely used across the public sector. Composed of groups of Census Output Areas, Data Zones are large enough that statistics can be presented accurately without fear of disclosure and yet small enough that they can be used to represent communities. They are designed to have roughly standard populations of 500 to 1,000 household residents, nest within local authorities (at the time of the Census), and have compact shapes that respect physical boundaries where possible. When Data Zones were originally created for the 2001 Census, they were designed to contain households with similar social characteristics. Aggregations of Data Zones can be used to provide estimates for higher level geographies where official statistics might not otherwise be available. Data Zones also represent a relatively stable geography that can be used to analyse change over time, with changes only occurring after a Census. Following the update to Data Zones using 2022 Census data, there are now 7,392 Data Zones covering the whole of Scotland.What are Data Zones and Intermediate Zones?Data Zones are statistical geographies used to produce small area statistics at a local level. They are designed to have a population of between 500 and 1,000 people, making them small enough to describe communities while also being large enough to avoid disclosing personal information.They serve two main functions in the production of official statistics. Firstly, they provide a standard, stable geography for the production and publication of statistics at a local area on a wide range of topics. Secondly, aggregations of Data Zones can be used to provide estimates for higher level geographies where official statistics might not otherwise be available.Intermediate Zones are similar to Data Zones but cover a larger population and area. They are used to produce local area statistics where statistics cannot be published at Data Zone level due to the risk of disclosing sensitive information.How Data Zones and Intermediate Zones will be usedThe revised Data Zones boundaries have been published on the Scottish Government’s spatial data platform and are now available for use by statistics producers.Data Zone BoundariesData Zone CentroidsIntermediate Zone BoundariesIntermediate Zone CentroidsA csv geography lookup table aggregating from 2022 Data Zones to higher level geographies is available on statistics.gov.scot.Census data for the new Data Zones and Intermediate Zones will be published in 2025. A lookup file that links Census Output Areas to Data Zones and Intermediate Zones has been published by National Records of Scotland.If you have any questions about Data Zones and Intermediate Zones please contact statistics.enquiries@gov.scot.Statistics Updates to Data Zones and Intermediate Zones now published - Statistics

Data Zones are the key geography for the dissemination of small area statistics in Scotland and are widely used across the public sector. Composed of groups of Census Output Areas, Data Zones are large enough that statistics can be presented accurately without fear of disclosure and yet small enough that they can be used to represent communities. They are designed to have roughly standard populations of 500 to 1,000 household residents, nest within local authorities (at the time of the Census), and have compact shapes that respect physical boundaries where possible. When Data Zones were originally created for the 2001 Census, they were designed to contain households with similar social characteristics. Aggregations of Data Zones can be used to provide estimates for higher level geographies where official statistics might not otherwise be available. Data Zones also represent a relatively stable geography that can be used to analyse change over time, with changes only occurring after a Census. Following the update to Data Zones using 2022 Census data, there are now 7,392 Data Zones covering the whole of Scotland.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the population of Scotland by gender across 18 age groups. It lists the male and female population in each age group along with the gender ratio for Scotland. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population distribution of Scotland by gender and age. For example, using this dataset, we can identify the largest age group for both Men and Women in Scotland. Additionally, it can be used to see how the gender ratio changes from birth to senior most age group and male to female ratio across each age group for Scotland.

Key observations

Largest age group (population): Male # 5-9 years (40) | Female # 65-69 years (27). Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2018-2022 5-Year Estimates.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2018-2022 5-Year Estimates.

Age groups:

• Under 5 years
• 5 to 9 years
• 10 to 14 years
• 15 to 19 years
• 20 to 24 years
• 25 to 29 years
• 30 to 34 years
• 35 to 39 years
• 40 to 44 years
• 45 to 49 years
• 50 to 54 years
• 55 to 59 years
• 60 to 64 years
• 65 to 69 years
• 70 to 74 years
• 75 to 79 years
• 80 to 84 years
• 85 years and over

Scope of gender :

Please note that American Community Survey asks a question about the respondents current sex, but not about gender, sexual orientation, or sex at birth. The question is intended to capture data for biological sex, not gender. Respondents are supposed to respond with the answer as either of Male or Female. Our research and this dataset mirrors the data reported as Male and Female for gender distribution analysis.

Variables / Data Columns

• Age Group: This column displays the age group for the Scotland population analysis. Total expected values are 18 and are define above in the age groups section.
• Population (Male): The male population in the Scotland is shown in the following column.
• Population (Female): The female population in the Scotland is shown in the following column.
• Gender Ratio: Also known as the sex ratio, this column displays the number of males per 100 females in Scotland for each age group.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Scotland Population by Gender. You can refer the same here

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for long-term health conditions for all people by sex by age (in 6 categories) in Scotland.

Age

A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age.

Sex

This is the sex recorded by the person completing the census. The options were "Female" and "Male". Guidance on answering the question can be found here

Long-term health condition (Source question or variables)

Individual question 18: Do you have any of the following which have lasted or are expected to last at least 12 months? (Tick all that apply)

• Deafness or partial hearing loss
• Blindness or partial sight loss
• Full or partial loss of voice or difficulty speaking (a condition that requires you to use equipment to speak)
• Learning disability (a condition that you have had since childhood that affects the way you learn, understand information and communicate)
• Learning difficulty (a specific learning condition that affects the way you learn and process information)
• Developmental disorder (a condition that you have had since childhood which affects motor, cognitive, social and emotional skills, and speech and language)
• Physical disability (a condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, lifting or carrying)
• Mental health condition (a condition that affects your emotional, physical and mental wellbeing)
• Long-term illness, disease or condition (a condition, not listed above, that you may have for life, which may be managed with treatment or medication)
• Other condition, please write in:
• No condition

Long-term health condition: nature of condition

This variable indicates whether or not an individual has identified themselves as having a long term health condition which has lasted or is expected to last at least 12 months. The conditions presented as response options were deafness or partial hearing loss, blindness or partial sight loss, a learning disability (for example Down’s Syndrome), a learning difficulty (for example dyslexia), a developmental disorder (for example autistic spectrum disorder or Asperger’s syndrome), a physical disability, a mental health condition, a long-term illness, disease or condition and other condition. (Although the categories ‘Long-term illness, disease or condition’ and ‘Other condition’ were presented as separate response options, they were combined into a composite ‘Other condition’ category for the purposes of statistical outputs.)

The classification is shown here

Long term health condition: Blindness or partial sight loss

An indicator for whether a person is blind or partially vision impaired.

Long term health condition: Deafness or partial hearing loss

An indicator for whether a person is deaf or partially hearing impaired.

Long-term health condition indicator - Long-term Illness

An indicator for whether a person has a long term illness (a condition, not listed in the other tick box response options for the long term health conditions question, that a person may have for life, which may be managed with treatment or medication)

Long-term health condition indicator - Mental Health

An indicator for whether a person has a mental health condition (a condition that affects emotional, physical and mental wellbeing)

Long-term health condition indicator - Physical Disability

An indicator for whether a person has a physical disability (a condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, lifting or carrying)

Long-term health condition indicator – Speaking difficulty (full or partial voice loss)

An indicator for whether a person has a speaking difficulty (a condition that requires a person to use equipment to speak).

The quality assurance report can be found here

Intermediate Zone centroids are point features that represent the population weighted centre of Intermediate Zones – the geography used for the dissemination of small area statistics in Scotland when results are unsuitable for release at Data Zone level. These centroids can be used to link Intermediate Zones to other higher level geographies and produce a 'best-fit' match. Intermediate Zones also represent a relatively stable geography that can be used to analyse change over time, with changes only occurring after a Census. Following the update to Intermediate Zones using 2022 Census data, there are now 1,334 Intermediate Zones covering the whole of Scotland.

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for the Usual resident population (residence type) by sex and age (in 6 categories) in Scotland.

Age

A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age.

Sex

This is the sex recorded by the person completing the census. The options were "Female" and "Male". Guidance on answering the question can be found here

Residence type

This defines the type of residence a person lives in. It categories people as living in households or living in a communal establishment.

The quality assurance report can be found here

This file contains the National Statistics Postcode Lookup (NSPL) for the United Kingdom as at August 2022 in Comma Separated Variable (CSV) and ASCII text (TXT) formats. To download the zip file click the Download button. The NSPL relates both current and terminated postcodes to a range of current statutory geographies via ‘best-fit’ allocation from the 2021 Census Output Areas (national parks and Workplace Zones are exempt from ‘best-fit’ and use ‘exact-fit’ allocations) for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland has the 2011 Census Output AreasIt supports the production of area based statistics from postcoded data. The NSPL is produced by ONS Geography, who provide geographic support to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and geographic services used by other organisations. The NSPL is issued quarterly. (File size - 184 MB).