Glasgow City Region

Population trends within the Glasgow City Region, 1982-2021
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There have been contrasting population trends in the local authorities in Glasgow City Region over the last 4 decades (1982-2021). In this period the population of some local authorities has reduced substantially - Inverclyde (-24%), Glasgow (-10%), and West Dunbartonshire (-16%). However, in contrast, over the same period, the populations of East Renfrewshire's and South Lanarkshire increased, by 20% and 5%, respectively.

Between 2007 and 2020, there was a steady rise in Glasgow's population, but in 2021 the city's population reduced slightly in commnon with trends seen in Scoltand's other large cities. This is being interpreted by NRS as a COVID-19 related impact with reductions in city populations attributed to people moving out of cities into surrounding local authorities. While Glasgow's population contracted slightly between 2020 and 2021, reducing by 0.1%, the population of every adjacent surrounding local authority in the region rose by 0.1% - 0.6%.

Notes

It is worth noting that the local authority populations do not reflect the size of the wider surrounding conurbation. For example, the Greater Glasgow and Clyde population is 1.2 million, and using a wider definition of the Glasgow conurbation, encompassing the West of Scotland and including Lanarkshire and parts of Ayrshire, would bring the population to above 2 million.