# Demographics of Edinburgh

The demography of Edinburgh, the capital city and second largest city of Scotland, is analysed by the National Records of Scotland. The population of the council area of Edinburgh was 514,990 in 2022.

## Population
### Historical

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the population expanded rapidly, rising from 49,000 in 1751 to 136,000 in 1831, primarily due to migration from rural areas.$^{:9}$ As the population grew, problems of overcrowding in the Old Town, particularly in the cramped tenements that lined the present day Royal Mile and the Cowgate, were exacerbated.$^{:9}$ Poor sanitary arrangements resulted in a high incidence of disease,$^{:9}$ with outbreaks of cholera occurring in 1832, 1848 and 1866.

### Sex
## Ethnicity

| Ethnic Group | 1991 | 1991 | 2001 | 2001 | 2011 | 2011 | 2022 | 2022 |
| Ethnic Group | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| White: Total | 409,044 | 97.64% | 430,369 | 95.9% | 437,167 | 91.5% | 436,742 | 84.9% |
| White: Scottish | – | – | 354,053 | 78.9% | 334,987 | 70.2% | 298,533 | 58.0% |
| White: Other British | – | – | 51,407 | 11.4% | 56,132 | 11.7% | 69,829 | 13.6% |
| White: Irish | 5,518 | 1.31% | 6,470 | 1.4% | 8,603 | 1.8% | 10,326 | 2.0% |
| White: Gypsy/Traveller | – | – | – | – | 388 | – | 256 | – |
| White: Polish | – | – | – | – | 12,820 | 2.68% | 16,351 | 3.18% |
| White: Other | – | – | 18,439 | 4.1% | 24,237 | 5.1% | 41,449 | 8.1% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Total | 6,979 | 1.66% | 11,600 | 2.5% | 26,264 | 5.5% | 44,070 | 8.6% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Indian | 1,176 | 0.28% | 2,384 | 0.53% | 6,470 | 1.35% | 12,414 | 2.41% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Pakistani | 2,625 | 0.62% | 3,928 | 0.87% | 5,858 | 1.22% | 7,454 | 1.45% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Bangladeshi | 328 | – | 636 | 0.14% | 1,277 | 0.26% | 2,685 | 0.52% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Chinese | 1,940 | 0.46% | 3,532 | 0.78% | 8,076 | 1.69% | 15,076 | 2.93% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Asian Other | 910 | 0.21% | 1,201 | 0.26% | 4,583 | 0.96% | 6,441 | 1.25% |
| Black, Black Scottish or Black British | 1,171 | 0.3% | 1,577 | 0.3% | 5,505 | 1.2% | 10,881 | 2.1% |
| African: Total | 603 | - | 1,285 | 0.2% | 4,474 | 0.9% | 9,462 | 1.84% |
| African: African, African Scottish or African British | 603 | – | 1,285 | 0.2% | 4,364 | 0.91% | 809 | 0.16% |
| African: Other African | – | – | – | – | 110 | – | 8,653 | 1.68% |
| Caribbean or Black: Total | 568 | – | 292 | – | 1,031 | 0.2% | 1,419 | 0.3% |
| Caribbean | 175 | – | 292 | – | 505 | 0.1% | 477 | 0.1% |
| Black | – | – | – | – | 403 | – | 80 | – |
| Caribbean or Black: Other | 393 | – | – | – | 123 | – | 862 | 0.17% |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups: Total | – | – | 2,776 | 0.6% | 4,087 | 0.8% | 12,882 | 2.5% |
| Other: Total | 1,720 | 0.41% | 2,047 | 0.45% | 3,603 | 0.8% | 9,966 | 1.9% |
| Other: Arab | – | – | – | – | 2,500 | 0.52% | 4,119 | 0.8% |
| Other: Any other ethnic group | 1,720 | 0.41% | 2,047 | 0.45% | 1,103 | 0.23% | 5,849 | 1.14% |
| Total: | 418,914 | 100% | 448,624 | 100% | 476,626 | 100% | 514,543 | 100% |

## Country of birth

The proportion of people residing in Edinburgh born outside the UK was 23.5% in 2022, compared with 15.9% in 2011 and 8.3% in 2001. Below are the largest overseas-born groups in Edinburgh according to the 2022 census, alongside the two previous censuses.
| Place of birth | 2022 | 2011 | 2001 |
| Poland | 13,842 | 11,651 | 416 |
| India | 9,445 | 4,888 | 1,733 |
| Mainland China | 8,229 | 4,188 | 978 |
| United States | 6,539 | 3,715 | 2,184 |
| Italy | 4,885 | 1,716 | 1,257 |
| Spain | 4,837 | 2,011 | 1,058 |
| Ireland | 4,774 | 4,743 | 3,324 |
| Germany | 3,843 | 3,526 | 2,760 |
| Hong Kong | 3,556 | 1,622 | 1,416 |
| Pakistan | 3,220 | 2,472 | 1,663 |
| Nigeria | 2,978 | 1,186 | 231 |
| France | 2,973 | 2,039 | 1,412 |
| South Africa | 2,464 | 1,824 | 1,331 |
| Greece | 2,377 | 992 | 575 |
| Australia | 2,189 | 2,086 | 2,012 |
| Canada | 2,079 | 1,760 | 1,332 |
| Overall – all overseas-born | 120,978 | 75,698 | 37,420 |

## Religion

The following table shows the religion of respondents in the 2001, 2011 and 2022 censuses in Edinburgh.
| Current religion | 2001 | 2001 | 2011 | 2011 | 2022 | 2022 |
| Current religion | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| Christianity | 245,876 | 54.81% | 206,565 | 43.34% | 154,899 | 30.10% |
| –Church of Scotland | 158,305 | 35.29% | 115,634 | 24.26% | 69,356 | 13.48% |
| –Roman Catholic | 48,712 | 10.86% | 57,868 | 12.14% | 51,950 | 10.10% |
| –Other Christian | 38,859 | 8.66% | 33,063 | 6.94% | 33,593 | 6.53% |
| Islam | 6,759 | 1.51% | 12,434 | 2.61% | 18,034 | 3.50% |
| Hinduism | 1,209 | 0.27% | 3,996 | 0.84% | 8,459 | 1.64% |
| Buddhism | 1,193 | 0.27% | 2,380 | 0.50% | 2,796 | 0.54% |
| Sikhism | 792 | 0.18% | 1,110 | 0.23% | 1,395 | 0.27% |
| Judaism | 774 | 0.17% | 855 | 0.18% | 1,270 | 0.25% |
| Paganism | — | — | — | — | 2,055 | 0.40% |
| Other religion | 5,696 | 1.27% | 1,864 | 0.39% | 1,629 | 0.32% |
| No religion | 163,930 | 36.54% | 213,651 | 44.83% | 289,944 | 56.35% |
| Religion not stated | 22,395 | 4.99% | 33,771 | 7.09% | 34,061 | 6.62% |
| No religion/Not stated total | 186,325 | 41.53% | 247,422 | 51.91% | 324,005 | 62.97% |
| Total population | 448,624 | 100.00% | 476,626 | 100.00% | 514,543 | 100.00% |

## National identity

The 2022 census found that of the 514,543 people residing in Edinburgh, 47.9% identified with the Scottish identity only, 16.6% identified with the British identity only and 8.9% identified with both identities. 5.0% identified with other UK identities (including English identity), 16.5% identified with an other identity only and the final 0.9% identified with at least one UK identity and an other identity.