Half of all Scots veterans are over 65 - census

Half of all Scottish armed forces veterans are over the age of 65, according to newly released data from the 2022 Scotland census.

This is the first time the National Records of Scotland have collected data on the UK armed forces and it shows 176,100 veterans live in the country - 3.9% of the adult population.

This compares with a similar figure in England and Wales, where 3.8% of the population had served.

The highest proportion of veterans were those in the older categories due to the Second World War and National Service which operated until 1960.

The Census data revealed that the biggest group of veterans in Scotland was the over-85 category, which had 26,518 men and 1,838 women who had served.

The data said half of all men over 85 had served in the armed forces.

Just under one third of all Scotland's veterans were aged between 50 and 64.

Overall, the majority of those having served in Scotland were male, comprising 88% of the veteran population.

Most of the Scottish veterans (72%) served in the regular armed forces, while 22% served in the reserves.

Local authorities that had a higher proportion of veterans in them tended to be areas with larger military bases, suggesting they stayed in the areas where they were formerly based.

Moray, in the north east of Scotland, had the highest population percentage having served in the armed forces, at 9%.

Moray has two large military bases, RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss Barracks, located in it.

The Edinburgh and Glasgow council areas had the smallest proportion of the population with armed forced experience, with Glasgow at 2% and Edinburgh City at 2.6%.

Director of census statistics for NRS Jon Wroth-Smith said this data "provides a unique insight enabling governments, local authorities and charities to shape support for veterans and their families".

The full report is available on the Scotland’s Census website.

Further census data will release in the coming months.