Highland Profile

This page contains some of the key facts and figures about Highland. You can view a wide variety of other information by visiting the pages listed in the "In This Section" to the right.

Population

	Population in 2009	% change 1999-2009
Badenoch & Strathspey	12,649	11.8
Caithness	25,199	-2.1
Inverness	73,476	13.2
Lochaber	19,193	-2.2
Nairn	12,207	10.7
Ross & Cromarty	51,631	2.0
Skye & Lochalsh	12,655	5.6
Sutherland	13,480	3.1
Highland	220,490	5.9
Source: GRO(S) mid-year estimates, 2009 & 1999

The latest General Register Office - Scotland (GRO(S)) population projection for Highland states that by 2028, the population of Highland will be 251,953 (a 14.8% increase from 2008).

Population density/area

	Area (in square kilometres - excluding inland water)	Population density (number of people per square kilometre)
Badenoch & Strathspey	2,356	5.4
Caithness	1,805	14.0
Inverness	2,961	24.8
Lochaber	4,634	4.1
Nairn	424	28.8
Ross & Cromarty	5,108	10.1
Skye & Lochalsh	2,732	4.6
Sutherland	6,071	2.2
Highland	25,659	8.6
Scotland	77,925	66.7
Source: GRO(S) mid-year estimates, 2009

Population by settlement

Settlement	Population
Inverness (incl. Culloden)	60,890
Nairn	10,948
Fort William	9,857
Wick	7,853
Thurso	7,733
Dingwall	5,813
Alness	5,469
Invergordon	4,220
Tain	4,069
Muir of Ord	3,056
Grantown-on-Spey	2,998
Aviemore	2,989
Conon Bridge	2,737
Portree	2,194
Source: GRO(S) 2009 mid-year estimates for settlements

Employment by Sector, Highland

Sector	Number of employees	% of total employees
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	1,900	1.7
Energy and water	900	0.8
Manufacturing	8,700	8.0
Construction	7,300	6.7
Distribution, hotels and catering	27,900	25.5
Transport and communications	6,500	5.9
Banking, finance and insurance	16,200	14.8
Public administration, education and health	34,000	31.1
Other services	5,800	5.3
Total	109,300	100.0
Source: Nomis/Annual Business Inquiry, 2008

Car ownership, 2001 – 75% of households own 1 or more cars or vans (2001 Census)

Number of households, 2009 – 99,721 (GRO(S) Household Estimates, 2009)

Projected number of households by 2028 – 124,430(GRO(S) Household Projections, 2008-Based)

Total land area – including all islands at low water is 26,484 square kilometres. This is 33% of Scotland and 11.4% of Great Britain. It is 10 times larger than Luxembourg, 20% larger than Wales, and nearly the size of Belgium.

Length of coastline – including islands (low water) is 4,905 kilometres, 21% of the Scottish total and excluding islands is 1,900 kilometres (49% of Scotland). Argyll and Bute has the next biggest coastline with 3,723 kilometres, then Western Isles with 3,716 kilometres.

Length of road network - you can view the latest roads return here, giving full details of the Highland road network.

Forested land cover - approximately 15% of Highland is forested, including over 300,000 hectares of commercial forest.

Nature Conservation Designations

Designation	Land area (hectares)	% of Highland land area
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)	537,551	20.3
Special Area of Conservation (SAC)	409,356	15.5
Special Protection Area (SPA)	294,145	11.1
National Nature Reserve (NNR)	86,397	3.3
National Scenic Area (NSA)	539,774	20.4
Source: Scottish Natural Heritage, August 2010