| Table 1.3 Population changes, births, deaths and migration 1861 to 1996 | | | '000s |
| | | | | | Mid-year to mid-year change |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Estimated net civilian migration |
| Year | Population | Population | | Births | | | Deaths1 | Natural | | | | Rest | | | Other |
| | | | | | change | | | | | | change | | Total | of UK | Overseas | changes2 |
| | | Census
population
present |
| 1861 | | 3,062.30 |
| | | | | | | 297.7 | 1,124.3 | | 708.0 | | 416.3 | -118.6 | - | | - | | - |
| 1871 | | 3,360.00 |
| | | | | | | 375.6 | 1,234.3 | | 765.5 | | 468.8 | -93.2 | - | | - | | - |
| 1881 | | 3,735.60 |
| | | | | | | 290.1 | 1,252.6 | | 744.8 | | 507.9 | -217.9 | - | | - | | - |
| 1891 | | 4,025.60 |
| | | | | | | 446.5 | 1,280.5 | | 780.7 | | 499.8 | -53.4 | - | | - | | - |
| 1901 | | 4,472.10 |
| | | | | | | 288.8 | 1,305.6 | | 762.7 | | 542.9 | -254.1 | - | | - | | - |
| 1911 | | 4,760.90 |
| | | | | | | 121.6 | 1,184.6 | | 824.4 | | 360.2 | -238.6 | - | | - | | - |
| 1921 | | 4,882.50 |
| | | | | | | -39.5 | 1,004.9 | | 652.5 | | 352.4 | -390.0 | -330.0 | | -60.0 | | -1.9 |
| 1931 | | 4,843.00 |
| | | | | | | 253.4 | 1,849.3 | | 1,347.0 | | 502.3 | -220.0 | -210.0 | | -10.0 | | -28.9 |
| 1951 | | 5,096.40 |
| | | | | | | 82.9 | 958.6 | | 619.3 | | 339.3 | -282.0 | -140.0 | | -142.0 | | -25.6 |
| 1961 | | 5,179.30 |
| | | | | | | 49.6 | 975.0 | | 628.7 | | 346.3 | -326.5 | -169.0 | | -157.5 | | -29.9 |
| 1971 | | 5,229.00 |
| | | | | | | -98.3 | 696.7 | | 638.1 | | 58.6 | -151.2 | -52.1 | | -99.1 | | -5.7 |
| 1981 | | 5,130.70 |
| | | | | | | -168.6 | 663.7 | | 635.7 | | 28.0 | -102.6 | -45.9 | | 56.7 | | -94.0 |
| 1991 | | 4,998.573 |
| | | Mid-year
population
estimate4 |
| 1983 | | 5,152.60 |
| | | | | | | -7.0 | 64.3 | | 62.9 | | 1.4 | -9.8 | -9.0 | | -0.8 | | 1.4 |
| 1984 | | 5,145.60 |
| | | | | | | -8.7 | 66.1 | | 62.4 | | 3.7 | -12.7 | -9.7 | | -3.0 | | -0.3 |
| 1985 | | 5,136.90 |
| | | | | | | -13.9 | 66.8 | | 65.2 | | 1.6 | -15.4 | -11.5 | | -3.9 | | -0.1 |
| 1986 | | 5,123.00 |
| | | | | | | -10.4 | 66.0 | | 61.2 | | 4.7 | -15.7 | -11.4 | | -4.3 | | 0.6 |
| 1987 | | 5,112.60 |
| | | | | | | -19.2 | 66.9 | | 62.0 | | 4.9 | -24.9 | -16.6 | | -8.3 | | 0.8 |
| 1988 | | 5,093.40 |
| | | | | | | 3.2 | 64.6 | | 61.5 | | 3.1 | -0.5 | 0.1 | | -0.6 | | 0.5 |
| 1989 | | 5,096.60 |
| | | | | | | 5.6 | 64.1 | | 65.5 | | -1.4 | 7.5 | 5.5 | | 2.0 | | -0.5 |
| 1990 | | 5,102.20 |
| | | | | | | 4.8 | 66.5 | | 60.7 | | 5.8 | 0.8 | 12.4 | | -11.6 | | -1.9 |
| 1991 | | 5,107.003 |
| | | | | | | 4.2 | 67.0 | | 61.1 | | 5.9 | 0.3 | 9.5 | | -9.2 | | -2.0 |
| 1992 | | 5,111.20 |
| | | | | | | 9.0 | 64.3 | | 61.9 | | 2.4 | 4.9 | 7.4 | | -2.5 | | 1.7 |
| 1993 | | 5,120.20 |
| | | | | | | 12.2 | 63.1 | | 62.6 | | 0.5 | 9.8 | 7.2 | | 2.6 | | 1.9 |
| 1994 | | 5,132.40 |
| | | | | | | 4.2 | 60.6 | | 59.6 | | 0.9 | 3.7 | -0.2 | | 3.9 | | -0.4 |
| 1995 | | 5,136.60 |
| | | | | | | -8.6 | 58.9 | | 61.2 | | -2.3 | -5.8 | -5.2 | | -0.6 | | -0.5 |
| 1996 | | 5,128.00 |
| Source: General Register Office for Scotland |
| 1 | Includes estimated war deaths of non-civilians and Merchant Seamen abroad (74,000 in 1914-18, and 434,000 in 1939-450) |
| 2 | The 'Other changes' component is a residual requirement to balance the detailed components with the overall population change. For the intercensal periods it includes any accumulated errors in the estimates of "migration, any difference in the numbers of people away from the home at the time of the census and any differences in the level of enumeration achieved by successive censuses for the single years 1981 onwards, it includes movements to/from the armed forces and changes in the number of armed forces stationed in Scotland. |
| 3 | The mid-year estimate for 1991 is significantly more than the population present at the 1991 Census mainly because of allowances made for underenumeration in the Census. |
| 4 | Data for 1982 to 1990 were revised in 1993 to take account of final census -based population estimates for 1991. |
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