Scotland could have one million single households within a decade if population trends continue.
The rise, fuelled by growing numbers of elderly people, many of whom lose partners, will put a greater strain on social services, according to the registrar general.
Tim Ellis’s annual population trends report, published yesterday, showed that the number of single households has grown by nearly 20 per cent over the past 14 years.
Of the 2.4 million households in Scotland, nearly 900,000 are made up of single people, compared with 722,000 in 2001.
At the current rate of growth more than a million people will be living alone in Scotland by 2024.
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Figures released by the National Records of Scotland show that pensioners make up 31 per cent of the population and this is projected to rise to almost 40 per cent by 2039.
Scotland’s ageing population has also driven a rise in cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Just over 2,000 deaths from these illnesses were registered in 2000 but by last year this had increased to 5,571.
Deaths from coronary heart disease and strokes fell, however. Last year 6,697 died from coronary heart disease, a fall from 12,412 in 2000. The number of people who died from strokes fell from 6,803 to 4,142 over the same period. Cancer deaths rose slightly from 14,958 in 2000 to 15,901 last year.
While the general population is growing older, migrants were injecting some youth into the country. Of the 86,000 migrants who came to Scotland last year, over half were aged 18 to 32. The report showed that the majority of those migrating were from other parts of the UK. About 46,000 people came from within Britain in 2015-16, compared with 40,000 from overseas.
Mr Ellis, warned that the long-term trend towards people living longer would have implications for public funding, tax revenues, pensions, education, health and social care provision.
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Alex Rowley, deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said the demographic projections showed that public services would come under increasing strain. “We also now need to be honest about how we fund public services,” he added. “Labour would use the tax powers of the Scottish parliament to abandon austerity and give our public services the investment they need.”
The Scottish government said migration would play a key role in sustaining the economy and said restrictions on free movement after Brexit would have damaging consequences for Scotland.
Mike Russell, the Brexit minister in Holyrood, said: “A hard Brexit, with restrictions on free movement, would be a major threat to our economy.”