Scotland's population growth at slowest since 2003
Mid-2020 Population Estimates report show that as of 30 June 2020, Scotland’s overall population was estimated to be 5.47 million.According to the statistics published by National Records of Scotland, this average growth is slower than in the previous five years (to June 2019), when it was at around 23,000 people.The data showed that population growth has slowed due to more deaths and lower levels of net migration.There were 63,100 deaths and 48,700 births in the year ending June 2020, which is 14,500 more deaths than births – the largest natural decrease on record. Esther Roughsedge, Head of Population and Migration Statistics, explained that a key reason for this small increase is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.