Key Points

When referring to “Roma people” in Scotland, we take this to mean minority ethnic communities who have usually migrated from EU member states (e.g. Central and Eastern European countries such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Poland). This is a distinct ethnic group that was recorded for the first time in Scotland’s Census in 2022.

In total, 3,218 people responded to Scotland’s Census 2022 that they identified with the Roma ethnic group, representing 0.06% of Scotland’s population. During quality assurance, National Records of Scotland (NRS) found a higher proportion of individuals born in Italy identifying as Roma than expected. NRS concluded that some individuals born in Rome, Italy may have selected the Roma ethnicity category in error. For this reason, analysis included in this report has excluded responses from individuals who selected the Roma ethnic group and Italy as their country of birth. However, it is not possible to determine how many ticked Roma in error, and whether some individuals that selected Italy as their country of birth may still be part of the Roma ethnic group.

In total, 2,044 Roma people were not born in Italy, representing 0.04% of Scotland’s population. The remainder of the report will be based on this figure, covering population size, disability, type of accommodation, household tenure, highest qualification held, student status, economic activity, and occupation. This report also draws comparisons between the Roma population, Gypsy/Travellers, Showpeople, and all of Scotland.

Key similarities included:

• The Roma population made up 0.04% of the total Scottish population, after excluding those born in Italy. This is comparable to the Gypsy/Traveller population (0.06%) and the Showpeople population (0.03%).
• A similar proportion of Roma people and Gypsy/Travellers reported owning their own home (23.3% compared to 28.3%). This is a smaller proportion when compared to Showpeople (68.3%) and all of Scotland (66.9%).
• The most commonly reported highest level of qualification for Roma people was a degree level qualification or above (34.2%). This is comparable to all of Scotland (32.5%).
• About half of Roma people aged 16 and above reported working as employees either full-time or part-time (52.9%), which is similar to all of Scotland aged 16 and above (50.6%).

Key differences included:

• The Roma population had the lowest reporting of a limiting long-term health problem or disability (13.5%), when compared to all of Scotland (24.1%), Gypsy/Travellers (39.5%), and Showpeople (27.6%). It is uncertain why there is a lower proportion of Roma people reporting a disability than comparison groups, and more research is needed to understand this.
• The majority of Roma people reported living in flats, maisonettes or apartments (74.0%), while about a quarter (26.0%) lived in a whole house or bungalow. This is a contrasting trend to the type of accommodation lived in across all of Scotland. The majority of people in all of Scotland reported living in a whole house or bungalow (72.3%), while about a quarter lived in flats, maisonettes or apartments (27.7%).
• Roma people reported living in social rented households more often than all of Scotland and Showpeople (28.8% compared to 20.5% and 11.1%). However, they reported this less often than Gypsy/Travellers (28.8% compared to 50.8%).
• Roma people’s most commonly held level of qualification was a degree level qualifications or above (including foreign qualifications) (34.2%). This is different to Gypsy/Travellers and Showpeople most commonly reporting holding no qualifications (43.7% and 37.4%).