The Scottish Islands Federation 

POPULATION

Scotland's Island Populations.....

At the time of the last census in 2001, there were 95 inhabited Scottish islands with a total population of 99,660. Ten years earlier, there were more than 100,000 people living on islands. Despite this overall decrease in island population, the number of inhabited islands has risen over the last decade - there were only 87 recorded as having permanent populations in the 1991 census.

The 2001 census results reveal that the most populated island in Scotland is the land mass of Lewis and Harris – with almost 20,000 residents. However, the Western Isles as a whole have suffered the worst rates of depopulation over the last decade – losing more than 3,000 people. Benbecula has suffered one of the worst rates of depopulation – a decrease of more than 30% since the last census.

The fastest growing island population over the last decade has been on Easdale – one of the Slate Islands in Argyll. Here, the population has increased from 41 in 1991 to 58 in 2001 - an increase of 41%. Another island experiencing a healthy rate of population growth has been Arran – where the population has increased by more than 600 over the last decade and now stands at over 5,000.

The majority of Scottish islanders are aged between 45 and 59 (almost 25%). The islands with the oldest populations are Lismore and Cumbrae. More than 45% of Lismore residents are aged over 60 and the figure for Cumbrae is over 40%.

Fair Isle and Vatersay boast the highest percentages of younger islanders. On Vatersay, 32% of the population is under the age of 16 and on Fair Isle the figure is almost 29%.

Depopulation is a real threat to many of Scotland's island communities. Over the last 10 years, almost twice as many islands have lost populations as have gained.

Statistical analysis carried out by Eurostat - the European Commission's statistical agency - has found that there is a critical population mass which determines the viability of population growth on islands. If this critical mass is reached, an island tends to experience an increasing population, a relatively large proportion of young people and good provision of public services. This critical population size is between 4,000 and 5,000 inhabitants. Any islands with populations below this level tend to experience net emigration, an ageing population and inadequate provision of facilities.

In 2001, only 6 Scottish islands had populations greater than this critical mass - Arran, Bute, Skye, Mainland Orkney, Mainland Shetland and Lewis & Harris.

The following table contains population statistics for all of Scotland's inhabited islands from 1961 to 2001:

Island	Local Authority Area	Population 1961	Population 1971	Population 1981	Population 1991	Population 2001
Ailsa Craig	N. Ayrshire	10	3	2	0	0
Arran	N. Ayrshire	3700	3564	3845	4475	5058
Auskerry	Orkney	3	0	0	0	5
Baleshare	Western Isles	59	64	67	55	49
Barra	Western Isles	1369	1005	1264	1244	1078
Benbecula	Western Isles	1358	1355	1869	1771	1219
Bernera	Western Isles	317	276	278	262	233
Berneray A	Western Isles	201	131	133	141	136
Berneray B	Western Isles	3	6	0	0	0
Black	Highland	0	0	0	0	0
Boreray	Western Isles	5	0	0	0	0
Bound Skerry (& Grunay)	Shetland	3	3	0	0	0
Bressay	Shetland	269	248	334	352	384
Bruray	Shetland	34	35	33	27	26
Burray	Orkney	262	209	283	363	357
Bute	Argyll & Bute	9793	8423	7306	7354	7149
Calve	Argyll & Bute	4	0	0	0	0
Canna	Highland	24	22	11	20	6
Carna	Highland	2	3	0	4	0
Cava	Orkney	0	0	2	2	0
Coll	Argyll & Bute	147	144	131	172	164
Colonsay	Argyll & Bute	164	137	133	98	108
Copinsay	Orkney	3	3	0	0	0
Danna	Argyll & Bute	10	9	7	1	5
Davaar	Argyll & Bute	3	8	4	0	2
Dry	Highland	2	2	9	1	0
Dubh Artach	Argyll & Bute	3	6	0	0	0
Easdale	Argyll & Bute	16	16	32	41	58
East Burra	Shetland	92	64	78	72	66
Eday	Orkney	198	179	147	166	121
Egilsay	Orkney	54	39	23	46	37
Eigg	Highland	74	69	64	69	67
Eilean Ban	Highland	0	0	2	0	2
Eilean Donnan	Highland	5	2	0	0	1
Eilean na Cille	Western Isles	5	4	0	0	0
Ensay	Western Isles	2	2	0	0	0
Eriskay	Western Isles	231	219	201	179	133
Erraid	Argyll & Bute	1	0	0	0	8
EweIsland	Highland	10	10	11	12	12
Fair Isle	Shetland	64	65	58	67	69
Fara	Orkney	5	0	0	0	0
Fetlar	Shetland	127	88	101	90	86
Fladday	Highland	12	0	0	0	0
Flannan	Western Isles	3	3	0	0	0
Flodda	Western Isles	14	9	7	8	11
Flotta	Orkney	123	73	178	126	81
Foula	Shetland	54	33	39	40	31
Gairsay	Orkney	0	7	6	3	3
Gigha	Argyll & Bute	163	174	153	143	110
Gometra	Argyll & Bute	15	10	4	0	5
Graemsay	Orkney	51	39	21	27	21
Great Cumbrae	N. Ayrshire	1638	1296	1300	1393	1434
Grimsay A	Western Isles	13	4	11	24	19
Grimsay B	Western Isles	239	193	204	215	201
Helliar Holm	Orkney	5	0	0	0	0
Holm of Grimbister	Orkney	5	6	0	0	0
Holy Island	N. Ayrshire	7	10	0	0	0
Housay	Shetland	71	63	49	58	50
Hoy	Orkney	511	419	461	450	392
Hyskier	Highland	3	5	0	2	0
Inch Kenneth	Argyll & Bute	13	2	0	0	0
Inchmarnock	Argyll & Bute	6	6	5	0	0
Iona	Argyll & Bute	130	145	122	130	125
Islay	Argyll & Bute	3860	3816	3792	3538	3457
IsleMartin	Highland	0	0	1	1	0
Jura	Argyll & Bute	249	210	228	196	188
Kerrera	Argyll & Bute	42	27	38	39	42
Killegray	Western Isles	0	2	0	0	0
Leiravay	Western Isles	2	0	0	0	0
Lewis & Harris	Western Isles	24107	22222	22476	21737	19918
Lismore	Argyll & Bute	155	166	129	140	146
Little Cumbrae	N. Ayrshire	8	14	6	6	0
Luing	Argyll & Bute	187	151	157	179	212
Lunga	Argyll & Bute	0	0	3	2	7
Mainland Orkney	Orkney	13495	12747	14000	15123	15315
Mainland Shetland	Shetland	13282	12944	17722	17562	17550
Muck	Highland	29	24	20	24	30
Muckle Flugga	Shetland	3	3	0	0	0
Muckle Roe	Shetland	103	94	99	115	104
Mull	Argyll & Bute	2149	2024	2197	2678	2667
Musdile	Argyll & Bute	3	0	0	0	0
North Ronaldsay	Orkney	161	134	109	92	70
North Uist	Western Isles	1620	1469	1399	1404	1271
Noss	Shetland	0	3	0	0	0
Ornsay	Highland	1	0	5	4	0
Oronsay	Argyll & Bute	2	2	3	8	5
Orsay	Argyll & Bute	7	11	0	0	0
Pabay	Highland	7	5	3	0	0
Pabbay	Western Isles	2	4	0	0	0
Papa Stour	Shetland	55	24	33	33	25
Papa Stronsay	Orkney	4	3	0	0	10
Papa Westray	Orkney	139	106	92	85	65
Pentland Skerries	Orkney	3	3	0	0	0
Pladda	N. Ayrshire	6	2	0	2	0
Raasay	Highland	211	163	152	163	192
Rona	Highland	49	3	3	0	2
Rousay	Orkney	237	181	209	217	212
Rum	Highland	40	40	17	26	22
Sanda	Argyll & Bute	7	9	0	0	1
Sanday	Highland	0	11	7	0	6
Sanday	Orkney	670	592	525	533	478
Scalpay	Western Isles	470	483	455	382	322
Scalpay A	Highland	2	5	6	7	10
Scarba	Argyll & Bute	5	0	0	0	0
Scarp	Western Isles	46	12	0	0	0
Seil	Argyll & Bute	303	326	424	506	560
Shapinsay	Orkney	416	346	329	322	300
Shona	Highland	11	17	12	9	9
Shuna A	Argyll & Bute	3	3	7	1	1
Shuna B	Argyll & Bute	1	0	0	0	0
Skerryvore	Argyll & Bute	3	0	3	0	0
Skye	Highland	7478	7183	7269	8843	9232
Soay	Highland	11	5	8	14	7
South Ronaldsay	Orkney	980	776	891	943	854
South Uist	Western Isles	2376	2281	2231	2106	1818
St. Kilda (Hirta)	Western Isles	65	65	9	0	0
Stroma	Highland	12	8	0	0	0
Stronsay	Orkney	497	436	420	382	343
Sule Skerry	Orkney	3	5	1	0	0
Swona	Orkney	3	3	0	0	0
Tanera More	Highland	6	2	0	0	5
Taransay	Western Isles	5	5	0	0	0
Tiree	Argyll & Bute	993	875	757	768	770
Torsa	Argyll & Bute	5	0	0	1	0
Trondra	Shetland	20	17	93	117	133
Ulva	Argyll & Bute	33	23	13	30	16
Unst	Shetland	1148	1124	1140	1055	720
Vaila	Shetland	9	5	0	1	2
Vatersay	Western Isles	95	77	107	72	94
West Burra	Shetland	561	501	767	817	753
Westray	Orkney	872	735	701	704	563
Whalsay	Shetland	764	870	1031	1041	1034
Wyre	Orkney	47	36	21	28	18
Yell	Shetland	1155	1143	1191	1075	957
TOTALS:
133		101001	93486	100299	102834	99623

For more information about island population statistics, visit Scotland’s Census Results OnLine