Scotland’s population has reached a record high, new estimates suggest.
The population on June 30 last year was 5,313,600, up 13,700 from mid-2011 and up 18,200 from the census in March 2011, according to National Records of Scotland (NRS).
There were 2,577,140 males and 2,736,460 females. The number of both males and females was the highest ever.
NRS chief executive Tim Ellis said: “Scotland’s population has continued to grow, reaching its highest-ever level last year. The increase from the census in 2011 to end June 2012 was 18,200.
“The rise was because there were over 6,000 more births than deaths and a net in-flow of 15,200 more people coming to Scotland than leaving.
“Most of this net migration increase is from people coming to Scotland from overseas rather than from the rest of the UK.
“Overall however, fewer people came to Scotland from overseas and more people left to go overseas in the year to mid-2012 than in the previous year.”
Fewer people came to Scotland from abroad and more people left the country, the figures show.
An estimated 35,900 people came to Scotland in the 12 months to June last year, compared with 42,300 in the same period to June 2011.
Around 26,200 moved overseas in the 12 months to June last year, compared with 16,900 over the year to June 2011.
The balance of 9,700 immigrants to mid-2012 is less than two-fifths of the 25,400 balance recorded in the 12 months to mid-2011.
More people came to Scotland from the rest of the UK but more people also went the other way, resulting in a steady annual rise in UK migration of around 3,000 a year.
Around 45,116 people came to Scotland from elsewhere in the UK in the year to June 2012, compared with 43,686 to mid-2011.