Demographics of Glasgow

Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth most populous city in the United Kingdom.

Industry sectors of Glasgow overtime

Demographics of Glasgow
Population pyramid of Glasgow
Population	593,245 (2011)
Density	3,390/km2 (8,780/sq mi).

Population density in the 2011 census in Glasgow.

Population

Glasgow's total population, according to the 2011 UK census, was 593,245. The population density was 3,390/km² (8,780/sq mi).

Ethnicity

The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the previous four censuses in Glasgow alongside two estimates.

A Home Office report officially estimated that the 'coloured' population of Glasgow in 1958 was likely around 3,000 to 5,000, the majority being Asian (2,000 Pakistanis and 2,000 Indians).^[1]

Ethnic Group	1971 estimations		1981 estimations[2]		1991 census[3][4]		2001 census[5]		2011 census[6]		2022 census[7]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
White: Total	–	–	729,092	97.9%	641,336	96.75%	546,359	94.55%	524,561	88.42%	501,029	80.71%
White: Scottish	–	–	–	–	–	–	503,614	87.15%	466,241	78.59%	416,634	67.12%
White: Other British	–	–	–	–	–	–	20,934	3.62%	24,154	4.07%	35,011	5.64%
White: Irish	–	–	–	–	10,384	1.56%	11,467	1.98%	11,228	1.89%	11,130	1.79%
White: Gypsy/Traveller[a]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	407	0.07%	201	0.03%
White: Polish[a]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8,406	1.42%	12,183	1.96%
White: Other	–	–	–	–	–	–	10,344	1.79%	14,125	2.38%	25,870	4.17%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Total	12,000[8]	1.3%	–	–	18,242	2.75%	25,636	4.44%	47,758	8.05%	68,793	11.08%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Indian	–	–	–	–	3,374	0.5%	4,173	0.72%	8,640	1.46%	13,990	2.25%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Pakistani	–	–	–	–	10,945	1.65%	15,330	2.65%	22,405	3.78%	30,912	4.98%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Bangladeshi	–	–	–	–	191	–	237	0.04%	458	0.08%	954	0.15%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Chinese	–	–	–	–	2,780	0.41%	3,876	0.67%	10,689	1.80%	14,300	2.30%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Asian Other	–	–	–	–	952	0.14%	2,020	0.35%	5,566	0.94%	8,640	1.39%
Black, Black Scottish or Black British[a]	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,792	0.31%	–	–	–	–
African: Total	–	–	–	–	489	–	–	–	12,440	2.10%	22,272	3.59%
African: African, African Scottish or African British	–	–	–	–	489	–	–	–	12,298	2.07%	2,798	0.45%
African: Other African	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	142	0.02%	19,474	3.14%
Caribbean or Black: Total	–	–	–	–	709	–	–	–	1,806	0.30%	1,471	0.24%
Caribbean	–	–	–	–	220		–	–	783	0.13%	335	0.05%
Black	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	820	0.14%	96	0.02%
Caribbean or Black: Other	–	–	–	–	489		–	–	203	0.03%	1,033	0.17%
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups: Total	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,046	0.35%	2,879	0.49%	10,624	1.71%
Other: Total	–	–	–	–	1,840	0.27%	2,036	0.35%	3,801	0.64%	16,571	2.67%
Other: Arab[a]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,631	0.44%	8,671	1.40%
Other: Any other ethnic group	–	–	–	–	1,840	0.27%	2,036	0.35%	1,170	0.20%	7,903	1.27%
Non-White: Total	–	–	15,286	2.1%	21,517	3.25%	31,510	5.45%	68,684	11.58%	119,726	19.29%
Total:	–	–	744,378	100%	662,853	100%	577,869	100%	593,245	100%	620,756	100%

Distribution of ethnic groups in Glasgow according to the 2011 census.

• 
  White
• 
  White-Scottish
• 
  White-Other British
• 
  White-Irish
• 
  White-Polish
• 
  White-Other
• 
  Asian
• 
  Asian-Indian
• 
  Asian-Pakistani
• 
  Asian-Bangladeshi
• 
  Asian-Chinese
• 
  African
• 
  Caribbean or Black
• 
  Other-Arab

Country of Birth

The proportion of people residing in Glasgow born outside the UK was 19.1% in 2022, compared with 12.2% in 2011 and 5.7% in 2001. Below are the fifteen largest overseas-born groups in Glasgow according to the 2022 census, alongside the two previous censuses.^[9]

Country of birth	2022	2011	2001
Pakistan	12,508	9,319	5,995
Poland	10,601	7,577	281
India	10,212	5,789	2,364
China	7,857	5,513	730
Nigeria	5,448	2,761	199
United States	3,964	1,866	1,122
Ireland	3,643	4,339	5,113
Italy	3,189	1,028	674
Iran	2,647	1,136	592
Spain	2,290	722	367
Germany	2,262	1,948	1,379
Hong Kong	2,095	1,430	1,406
Iraq	2,029	1,191	750
Romania	1,830	460	43
France	1,688	1,077	701
Overall – all overseas-born	118,819	72,607	32,690

The country of birth of Glasgow for 1981 is as follows;

Country of Birth	Year
	1981[10]
	Number	%
United Kingdom	728,050	96.4%
England	19,592	2.6%
Scotland	701,054	92.8%
Wales	921
Northern Ireland	–	–
United Kingdom (not otherwise specified)	6,483	0.9%
Europe (non-UK)	12,778	1.7%
Ireland	9,341
Other EEC	2,334
Other Europe	1,103
Asia and Middle East	8,286	1.1%
India	2,624
Pakistan	3,532
Bangladesh	152
Far East	1,978
Middle East	–	–
Africa	1,227	0.2%
North America	–	–
South America	–	–
Oceania	–	–
Other: New Commonwealth[n 1]	356
Other: Old Commonwealth[n 2]	1,479	0.2%
Other:	3,012	0.4%
Total	755,377	100%

1. Used as main option for when no other options are given, for example in 1971. This group contains all for Canada, Australia and New Zealand
2. Used as a conglomerate for New Commonwealth for when there are no other options as for example in 1971. This group contains all for remenents of the British Empire after 1945 (if not already indicated).

Languages

The languages other than English used at home in Glasgow according to the 2011 census are shown below.^[11]

Language	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
English only	496,027	86.62%
Gaelic	2,305	0.40%
Scots	2,826	0.49%
British Sign Language	1,717	0.30%
Polish	7,379	1.29%
Other	62,379	10.89%

Religion

The following table shows the religion of respondents in the 2001, 2011 and 2022 censuses in Glasgow.

Current religion	2001[5]		2011[12]		2022[13]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Christianity	374,393	64.79%	322,954	54.44%	240,337	38.72%
–Roman Catholic	168,733	29.20%	161,685	27.25%	128,743	20.74%
–Church of Scotland	182,172	31.52%	136,889	23.07%	82,585	13.30%
–Other Christian	23,488	4.06%	24,380	4.11%	29,009	4.67%
Islam	17,792	3.08%	32,117	5.41%	48,766	7.86%
Hinduism	1,209	0.21%	4,074	0.69%	8,166	1.32%
Buddhism	1,194	0.21%	2,570	0.43%	2,854	0.46%
Sikhism	2,374	0.41%	3,149	0.53%	3,456	0.56%
Judaism	1,083	0.19%	897	0.15%	973	0.16%
Paganism[b]	—	—	—	—	2,001	0.32%
Other religion	3,799	0.66%	1,599	0.27%	1,817	0.29%
No religion	131,189	22.70%	183,835	30.99%	268,327	43.23%
Religion not stated	44,836	7.76%	42,050	7.09%	44,076	7.10%
No religion/Not stated total	176,025	30.46%	225,885	38.08%	312,403	50.33%
Total population	577,869	100.00%	593,245	100.00%	620,756	100.00%

Distribution of religions in Glasgow according to the 2011 census.

• 
  Christianity
• 
  Church of Scotland
• 
  Roman Catholic
• 
  Other Christian
• 
  Islam
• 
  Judaism
• 
  Hinduism
• 
  Sikhism
• 
  Buddhism
• 
  Other religion
• 
  No religion

National identity

The 2022 census found that of the 620,756 people residing in Glasgow, 62.3% identified with the Scottish identity only, 11.8% identified with the British identity only and 7.1% identified with both identities. 2.5% identified with other UK identities (including English identity), 12.9% identified with an other identity only and the remaining 0.5% identified with at least one UK identity and an other identity.^[14]

See also

• Scotland portal

• Demographics of the United Kingdom
• Demographics of Scotland
• Demographics of Edinburgh
• Demographics of London
• Demographics of Birmingham
• Demographics of Greater Manchester
• List of towns and cities in Scotland by population
• Subdivisions of Scotland
• Wards of Glasgow

Notes

1. New category created for the 2011 census
2. New category created for the 2022 census