Migration pushes Scots populace past 5.5 million

SCOTLAND'S population has smashed through the 5.5 million barrier for the first time, with immigration responsible for the rise.

- By Douglas Dickie

Updated figures suggest the population of the country in June last year was 5,546,900.

But the National Records of Scotland says the population reached the 5.5 million mark a year earlier as it revised its previous figure for June 2023 to 5,506,000. The rise between 2023 and 2024 can almost entirely be accounted for by international migration, amid SNP claims that the country needs more immigration.

The population grew by 0.7% or 40,900 people in a year. Net international migration was +42,600 in the year to mid-2024, while net migration between elsewhere in the UK and Scotland was +13,800.