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Publication - Statistics

Non-binary people in Scotland: an analysis of Scotland’s Census 2022

Published
14 July 2025
Directorate
Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice Directorate
Topic
Equality and rights

This report uses the new availability of Scotland's Census 2022 data to analyse the characteristics and outcomes associated with non-binary people, to fill evidence gaps and create a better understanding of Scotland’s diverse population.

Supporting documents

Country of Birth and National Identity

Country of Birth

The most common countries of birth reported by non-binary people in Scotland, were: Scotland (57.3%), rest of UK (22.3%), and Europe (10.0%). These were also the most common countries of birth reported for the rest of Scotland (excluding non-binary people) aged 16 and above (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Country of birth reported by non-binary people compared to rest of Scotland aged 16 and above

Note: Where an asterisk (*) has been placed in the figure, the sample size for the statistic is below 100. Caution is advised for interpreting smaller results, because it would only take a small amount of variation in the data to see a large apparent effect on the analysis of the data.

The chart depicts the following reported countries of birth: Scotland, rest of UK, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean, Middle East and Asia, Africa, and Antarctica, Oceania and Other. The patterns are similar comparing non-binary people and the rest of Scotland. A data table alternative of this chart is provided in Annex A.Source: Scotland’s Census 2022

National Identity

More than half (55.4%) of the non-binary population captured in the Census said that Scottish was their only national identity. For the rest of Scotland aged 16 and above, a higher proportion (63.9%) of people reported that their only national identity was Scottish. The proportion of non-binary people that identified as British only, Scottish and British, or only English was not dissimilar to the proportions reported for the rest of Scotland (Figure 5).

A higher proportion of the non-binary population (15.2%) identified as an “other identity only” (an identity that is different to Scottish, English, Northern Irish, Welsh or British), when comparing to the rest of Scotland aged 16 and older (6.7%). There was also a higher proportion of people in the non-binary population who identified with both a UK identity and another identity (10.9%) than the rest of Scotland (3.6%) (Figure 5). 

Figure 5: National identities reported by non-binary people compared to the rest of Scotland aged 16 and above

The chart depicts national identities: Scottish identity only, Other identity only, Other identity and at least one UK identity, British identity only, Scottish and and British identities only, and English identity only. A data table alternative of this chart can be found in Annex A.Source: Scotland’s Census 2022

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