Scotland's depopulation time bomb

Craig Hoy:

Scotland is facing a "depopulation time bomb", the SNP has warned.

The warning comes as nationalist leader Alex Salmond mounts a renewed push to make the case for an independent Scotland.

The party's economics spokesman, Jim Mather, says he is in possession of new figures of official population projections for Scotland up to 2073.

According to the forecasts, which come from the Government Actuary Department, Scotland’s population will fall from five million in 2004 to just 3.6 million in 2073 - a drop of 27 per cent.

Over the same period, the UK's population will increase by 11 per cent - while according to EU figures, Ireland's population will have already risen 36 per cent by 2050.

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