Scotland's population boosted by UK immigration
July 29 2009 by Mark Johnstone
Scotland's population boosted by UK immigration
The population of Scotland rose last year as immigrants made the move to the UK and opted to head north, says a report on The Scotsman website.
The population saw an increase for the third year in a row despite the number of recorded deaths being greater than the number of births. Migrants coming to live and work in the UK and settling in Scotland are the reason for the increase in population numbers.
The trend was explained by Duncan Macniven, the Registrar General, who said: "The main reason for the increase was because in-migrants exceeded out- migrants by 19,000."
Although most newcomers to Scotland were from other parts of the UK, many came from overseas, including the US and Europe. Eastern Europeans were coming into the country for short term stays taking advantage of the fact they did not now require a valid UK work visa.
The Scotsman went on to state that not every area of Scotland had seen a rise in its population. There was population declines in the regions of the Western Isles, Aberdeen and Inverclyde
Scotland’s population is predicted to continue to rise until 2019, when it should reach just over 5 million.
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