Population Demographics
Information summarised on this page is based on information routinely published by the National Records of Scotland (NRS National Records of Scotland (NRS)) supplemented with locally available information from the Community Health Index (CHI) Register (Community Health Index (CHI) – About the CHI linkage and indexing team (CHILI) – CHI Linkage and Indexing (CHILI) – Health intelligence and data management – Resources and tools – Public Health Scotland), to provide as timeously available information as possible.
The trends in population for Grampian and each local authority during 1991 to 2025[AR(G1] is shown in Figure x. The population of Grampian was 625,636 in 2025 (according to the CHI register) which represents a 21% increase since 1991. In 2025, the population breakdown by local area was as follows: 40% in Aberdeen City (252,688), 44% in Aberdeenshire (273,441) and 16% in Moray (99,507) (Figure x).
The greatest increases in population since 1991, have been in Aberdeenshire (29%) and Moray (24%) with Aberdeen City seeing a smaller increase (15%) (Figure x). The under 18 population has fallen since 1991, most notably so in Moray, whereas the 18-64 year population has increased by 19% and the over 65 population by 69%. In Aberdeenshire the over 65 population has more than doubled (116%).
Figure x – Population trends in Grampian, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray, 1991-2025.
Source: Local CHI Register information
Figure x – Pie chart showing the population by Local Authority
Figure x – Percentage change in population across Grampian, and by local authority.
What is causing the change in Grampian’s population demographics
As outlined in the NRS Mid-2024 populations estimates publication (Mid-2024 population estimates – National Records of Scotland (NRS)), there are 2 main reasons why the population demographics change over time. The change is a combination of “natural change” (defined as the number of births minus the number of deaths) and “net migration” (defined as the number of people moving into an area minus the number of people leaving). Net migration can be due to migration within Scotland, rest of the UK migration and International migration.
Natural change, within Scotland migration, rest of UK migration and International migration are the 4 main categories which are used by NRS to help understand the reasons for changes in population demographics across Scotland over time. Figure x summarises the underlying reasons for changes in population demographics from 2014-2024 for each local area. This figures shows a slightly different picture for each area with Aberdeen City population growth driven almost entirely by international migration. Aberdeenshire saw modest positive growth from international migration and within Scotland migration. Moray shows a very different profile, with a clear natural population decline but is dependent on inward movement from the rest of the UK as the main driver of its population stability.
Figure x – Underlying reasons for changes in the population demographics for local authorities (comparison with Scotland as a whole included).
Source: Figure compiled using interactive data https://scotland.shinyapps.io/nrs-population-estimates/ available as part of the NRS mid-2024 population estimates publication.