Migration - Meeting Scotland's Needs

Migration

8. The population has grown as a result of both international migration and people moving between Scotland and the rest of the UK. In the years to mid-2022 and to mid-2023 the numbers of international migrants moving to Scotland have been much higher than in previous years. In the year to mid-2023, over 82,000 people moved to Scotland while around 35,000 people left the country. This recent increase in international migration into Scotland can largely be explained by an increase in international students studying at universities in Scotland.

9. However, more recent figures from the Office for National Statistics^[1], available only for the UK as a whole, suggest that the number of international migrants entering the UK in the year to mid-2024 was lower than in the previous year and that the number of people leaving was higher. It is too early to say how this will impact on Scotland or whether this is the start of a new downward trend.

Migration and Scotland’s ageing population

10. Migrants are generally younger than the population as a whole. The most common age groups for international moves to and from Scotland in the year to mid-2023 were 16 to 34 years.

11. However, across the population of Scotland as a whole, the number of children and the number of people aged 16-64 have generally been falling, whilst the number of pensioners has increased. In mid-2023 those aged 16 to 64 made up 63% of the population, down from 65% in both mid-2013 and mid-2003. By the middle of 2045 the number of people aged 65 and over is projected to grow by nearly a third while the number of children is projected to fall by nearly a fifth.