Migration - Meeting Scotland's Needs

Scotland's demographic challenge

12. Recent statistics demonstrate that Scotland continues to be an attractive and welcoming country which people from across the UK and internationally are choosing to call home. Inward migration has driven the biggest single year increase in Scotland’s population since the 1940s, mainly due to international migration. This increase is despite the limitations imposed on the UK immigration system by the previous UK Government, nearly all of which have been maintained by the new UK Government as part of a continued policy aim to reduce net migration to the UK. It is imperative to note that Scotland’s demography is changing, and the challenges it faces in this regard are distinct to the rest of the UK.