Scotland’s Population 2009

That the Parliament welcomes the publication by the Registrar General of the report, Scotland’s Population 2009; recognises the positive finding that the steady decline in the number of deaths has continued during 2009; notes the encouraging finding that 22,000 more people moved to Scotland than left in 2008-09, considers that this highlights Scotland as an attractive place in which to live and work; notes with concern that, despite progress in increasing life expectancy rates across the nation, the life expectancy of men and women in Scotland is still lower than that of their counterparts in the rest of the UK and the EU and that there are major inequalities of life expectancy within Scotland itself, in particular the average life expectancy for a man in north and east Glasgow being eight years shorter than that of a counterpart in East Dunbartonshire, for women the difference being around six years; is also concerned by the confirmation that the population is getting older and that projections show that by 2033 the number of people aged over-60 will have increased by 50% to 1.75 million leading to increased housing, health and social concerns, and urges the Scottish Government to take the opportunity of the next census on 27 March 2011 to gather more information in order to adequately tackle these ongoing concerns.