Occasional Paper: Summary Characteristics of UK Armed Forces Veterans - Scotland's Census 2022
A report presenting census data which demonstrates differences between Scotland’s veteran and non-veteran population, based on providing high-level statistics on veterans’ demographic characteristics.
Main findings
Age
Scotland’s Census showed that the veteran population is predominantly older. Figure 2 shows the age distribution between veterans and non-veterans. Veterans aged 16-49 years old comprised 18.9% of the veteran population. Those aged 50-79 years old made up 55.3% of the veteran population, and those aged 80 and over made up 25.7%. The high percentage of veterans in the oldest group is explained by the National Service policy in place between 1939 to 1960 and War Service (to 1948).
Figure 2. A greater proportion of veterans than non-veterans are 50 years old and over
Percentages of the UK Armed Forces veteran and non-veteran population by age, Scotland, 2022
Source: National Records of Scotland – Scotland’s Census 2022
This age distribution across these age cohorts differs from findings in the 2021 England and Wales Census. In England and Wales, 21.1% of veterans were aged 16 to 49 years old. 47.2% were aged 50 to 79 years old, and 31.8% were aged 80 and over. In Scotland, there were more veterans in the middle age group than in England and Wales, and fewer veterans in the oldest age group than in England and Wales.
In Scotland, the median age of veterans was 65. In England and Wales, the median age of veterans was 67.
Sex
Of the total UK Armed Forces veteran population in Scotland (176,084), 88% were male and 12% were female.
Taking age and sex together demonstrates the over-representation of older men in the veteran population. Males aged 80 and over made up 24.1% of the total veteran population, despite males aged 80 and over making up 1.5% of the non-veteran population. Males aged 50-79 years old made up 48.1% of the veteran population and those aged 16-49 years old made up 16.1%. Females aged 16-49 years old made up 2.9% of the veteran population, females aged 50-79 years old made up 7.2% of veterans, and female veterans aged 80 and over made up 1.7%.
The majority of veterans (72.2%) served in the regular UK Armed Forces, 21.9% served in the reserve Armed Forces and 5.9% served in both. Of regular Armed Forces veterans, 89.3% were male and 10.7% were female. Of reserve Armed Forces veterans, 83.4% were male and 16.6% were female. Of those that served in both, 94.5% were male and 5.5% were female.
Ethnic group
Scotland’s Census asked people to choose the option that best described their ethnic group or background. Overall, veterans in Scotland were less ethnically diverse than non-veterans.
The age structure of the veteran population is important when looking at ethnic group as older people were over-represented. Among both veterans and non-veterans, there was greater ethnic diversity among younger people (aged 16-49).
Across Scotland, 77.8% of all veterans identified as ‘White Scottish’. This was similar to the non-veteran ‘White Scottish’ figure (77.5%). 19.6% of veterans were ‘White Other British’, compared to 9.9% of non-veterans.
Figure 3 shows that, across all age groups, a smaller proportion of veterans had a minority ethnic background compared to non-veterans. ‘Minority ethnic group’ is used here to include all ethnic groups apart from White Scottish and White Other British. 5.4% of veterans aged 16-49 years old had a minority ethnic background, compared to 19.0% of non-veterans in this age group. 2.4% of veterans aged 50-79 years old had a minority ethnic background, compared to 6.1% of non-veterans in this age group. Among those aged 80 and over, 1.2% of veterans had a minority ethnic background, compared to 3.4% of non-veterans.
Figure 3. Veterans in Scotland are less ethnically diverse than non-veterans
Ethnic group (White Scottish, Other White British, and Minority Ethnic) by UK Armed Forces veteran status and age cohort, Scotland, 2022
Source: National Records of Scotland – Scotland’s Census 2022
Figure 3 shows that non-veterans aged 16-49 years old were the most ethnically diverse group. Among this age group, and comparing veterans to non-veterans, the greatest difference was found between ‘Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British’ veterans and non-veterans. 5.7% of 16-49 year old non-veterans were ‘Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British’, compared to 0.8% of veterans, which showed a 4.9 per centage point difference.
Country of birth
Overall, the majority of veterans that resided in Scotland were born in Scotland (75.5%). This compares to 77.4% of the non-veteran population. The greatest difference between veterans and non-veterans was among those born in England. 19.1% of veterans were born in England, compared to 10.1% of non-veterans.
These findings were consistent across age groups, with the biggest difference shown among veterans aged 80 and over, where those born in Scotland (83.3%) made up a larger proportion than among 16 to 49 year olds (73.1%) and 50 to 79 year-olds (72.7%).
Among non-veterans, after Scotland and England, the countries where most residents were born was Middle East and Asia (3.3%) and accession EU countries[3] (2.5%). Among veterans, after Scotland and England, the countries where most residents were born were Northern Ireland (1.1%) and member EU countries[4] (1.0%). An important factor to note is the nationality requirements to join the UK Armed Forces[5].
Religion[6]
Overall, Scotland’s Census showed that veterans were more likely to be belong to a religion than non-veterans. This is due to the larger number of older people in the veteran population who are more likely to be religious than younger people. In 2022, 38.9% of veterans had no religion, compared to 49.3% of non-veterans.
Veterans were more likely to belong to the Church of Scotland than non-veterans. 34.8% of veterans belonged to the Church of Scotland, compared to 22.0% of non-veterans. 10.6% of veterans were Roman Catholic, compared to 13.6% of non-veterans. 7.6% of veterans were Other Christian, compared to 5.2% of non-veterans. 1.3% of veterans belonged to all other religions combined, compared to 3.7% of non-veterans.
When looking at age groups, the biggest difference was found among younger people who belonged to the Church of Scotland. Whilst 10.7% of non-veterans aged 16-49 years old belonged to the Church of Scotland, 17.4% of veterans identified with this religion. Figures for the other age groups show that there are only slight differences between non-veterans and veterans that belonged to the Church of Scotland; 32.0% of non-veterans and 33.3% of veterans aged 50- to 79-years-old, and 51.5% of non-veterans and 50.8% of veterans aged 80 and over.
Figure 4 shows that religion by age group was broadly similar, other than a greater proportion of young veterans belonged to the Church of Scotland. This contributes to the over-representation of veterans that identified with this religion.
Figure 4. Younger veterans and non-veterans are less religious than their older counterparts
Religion by UK Armed Forces veteran status and age cohort, Scotland, 2022
Source: National Records of Scotland – Scotland’s Census 2022
Disability
The importance of age differences between the veteran and non-veteran population was highlighted when analysing disability. Scotland’s Census showed that veterans reported having a disability or long-term health problem more frequently than the non-veteran population; 43.2% of veterans have a long-term health problem or disability. This compared with 26.6% of non-veterans.
It is important to note the proportion of older people in the veteran population and the relationship between older age and disability. When looking at comparable age groups, the difference between populations is smaller, although veterans aged 16- to 49-years-old and 50- to 79-years-old were more likely to have reported a long-term health problem or disability, as shown in Figure 5. The proportion of veterans aged 80 and over that reported a health problem or disability was slightly more (72.0%) than non-veterans (71.5%).
Figure 5. The proportion of veterans with a disability or long-term health problems is similar to non-veterans when accounting for age
Percentage of population with disability or long-term health problems by UK Armed Forces veteran status and age cohort, Scotland, 2022
Source: National Records of Scotland – Scotland’s Census 2022
Council area
Scotland’s Census shows that the veteran population was spread out geographically across Scotland. The council areas with the highest proportion of the veteran population were Fife (9.8% of veterans), City of Edinburgh (6.6%), Glasgow City (6.1%), Highland (5.9%) Aberdeenshire (5.4%) and South Lanarkshire (4.7%).
When looking at council areas by local populations, the councils with the most veterans by council area population were Moray (9.0% of the council area population aged 16 and over were veterans), Angus (6.1%), Argyll and Bute (5.9%), Fife (5.6%), Perth and Kinross (5.4%), and Highland (5.3%).
The above analysis shows that whilst a relatively smaller proportion of Edinburgh (2.6%) and Glasgow’s population (2.0%) aged 16 and over comprises of veterans – they both still have more veterans living within their boundaries than any other council apart from Fife (given their overall size, as Scotland’s two biggest local authority areas).
[3] Accession European Union countries in 2022.
[4] Member European Union countries in 2022.
[5] People applying to join the UK’s Armed Forces must be a citizen of Britain, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland (either as a sole or dual national). Nepalese Gurkha soldiers serve under special and unique arrangements. They remain citizens of Nepal during their service in the Brigade of Gurkhas in the British Army. See UK Parliament guidance on nationality requirements to join the UK Armed Forces.
[6] This Census question was voluntary and was asked to those over the age of 16. Percentages are calculated using the overall adult population, not just those who answered the question.
Contact
Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback