Scottish cities
This page shows both household trends for Scottish cities, and further down the page projected households by type.
Household estimate trends for Scottish cities
The number of households has risen in all of Scotland's largest cities in the last two decades. In Glasgow, household numbers have increased by 25,431 (9.3%) since 2001.
Edinburgh had the largest proportionate increase in households over this period of 18% (37,028 households); and Dundee had the smallest increase, at 3,555 (5.32%).
Households by type across Scottish cities
Glasgow has a relatively high proportion of lone-parent households (7%) and of single-adult households (44%).
Average household size
Households sizes dropped in Scotland and in each of the four cities shown between 2001 and 2022. In 2001, Scottish households had an average of 2.27 people; by 2022 this had fallen to 2.12. All of the cities had lower figures than the Scottish average.
Glasgow had the lowest average household size in 2001, with 2.08 people per household compared to 3.13 in Dundee and Aberdeen and 2.14 in Edinburgh. However, steeper drops in the other cities meant that, in 2022, Edinburgh (2.05) and Dundee (2.06) were similar to Glasgow’s average of 2.03, and Aberdeen had the lowest average household size, with 1.97 people per household.
The NRS report from which this data is taken discusses how households have changed over time. In 2022, around 37% of households in Scotland were single-person households, compared to just 14% of households in 1961. The report notes that this is in part due to Scotland’s aging population and that older people are more likely than they were in the past to live at home, and more likely than other age groups to live alone.
Notes
These projections are forecasts based on a range of assumptions about underlying demographics and therefore should be considered with caution. The projections shown are the NRS principal projections.
For more detailed information go to the NRS household projections publication.