Number of households in Scotland continues to increase
There were an estimated 2.55 million households last year – 15 per cent more than 20 years ago, according to figures published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).
The number of households in 2021 and 2022 increased by around 21,000 each year, the highest figures since 2008.
Every council area saw the number of households increase over the past 20 years.
The highest percentage increases were in Orkney Islands (28%), East Lothian (27%), and Midlothian (26%). The lowest percentage increases were in Inverclyde (4%), Dundee City (7%), and West Dunbartonshire (7%).
Of the 2.70 million dwellings in Scotland in 2022, 90,700 (three per cent) were empty.
A total of 24,300 (one per cent) dwellings were second homes.
Remote rural areas generally have higher proportions of empty and second homes than urban areas.
Sandy Taylor, NRS' head of household statistics, said: “These latest statistics show a continuation of the trends in the number and type of households that we have seen over the last 20 years.
“The growth in the number of households is partly due to an increase in the population but it is also because people are increasingly living alone or with fewer other people.
“The average household size in Scotland decreased from 2.25 people per household in 2002 to 2.18 in 2012, and then to 2.11 in 2022.”
