Scotland

Population size is 5,295,403

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  1. Learning disabilities
  2. Autism

Once every 10 years the Scottish Government holds a national census to provide a snapshot of all the people in Scotland on one night. For the first time, Scotland's Census 2011 (on 27.3.11), gave people the chance to say whether or not they had learning disabilities and/or autism. This provides a unique opportunity to analyse and present information about people with learning disabilities and people known to have autism, compared with the whole population. You can search the data from Scotland's Census, 2011 on this website.

If you have an enquiry related to Scotland's Census 2011, you can contact National Records of Scotland by following this link.

Population characteristics

Number of people with learning disabilities

5,234

aged 0-15 yrs


18,660

aged 16-64 yrs


2,455

aged 65+ yrs


Population

Health

People with learning disabilities rate their health as

4,009

very good


9,207

good


8,973

fair


2,778

bad


1,382

very bad


Health

Households

People with learning disabilities in private accommodation

11,886

rented from council/housing association


8,927

private ownership


2,203

rented privately or living rent free


Housing and accommodation

Employment

People aged 16 and over with learning disabilities

12,098

long term sick or disabled


2,460

in paid employment


1,975

students


1,934

retired


2,648

other


Employment and Education

Other topics

People with learning disabilities

97.2%

born in the UK


52.0%

Christian faith


Other topics

Other topics

People with learning disabilities

97.6%

are white


90.3%

speak English only at home


Other topics

Summary information

0.5% of people in Scotland have learning disabilities, that's 26,349 people


  • 5,234 children and 21,115 adults have learning disabilities


  • 15,149 males and 11,200 females have learning disabilities


  • 15.2% of people with learning disabilities rate their health as very good, compared with 52.5% of all people and 24.0% of people with learning disabilities rate their health as very bad, compared with 1.3% of all people


  • 11.7% of adults with learning disabilities have paid employment, compared with 57.7% of all adults; 57.3% of adults with learning disabilities are long-term sick or disabled, compared with 4.8% of all adults in Scotland



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