Demographics & Labour Market

Lanarkshire has a population of 633,046 people (GROS 2004 Population estimates and projections) which represents 12.3% of the Scottish total.
1.5 million people live within 30 minutes drive time of the centre of Lanarkshire. Over 3 million are within a one hour drive time catchment.
The resident population in Lanarkshire is forecast to grow by 1.4% between 2006 and 2021, bucking the trend for Scotland where static growth is forecast over the same period.
Location and accessibility attributes enable companies based in Lanarkshire to tap into a large, skilled and affordable labour pool.

290,000 people are currently in employment in Lanarkshire.
A slightly higher proportion of the resident Lanarkshire population is employed in managerial and senior official roles compared to the rest of Scotland.
Lanarkshire also benefits from having an above average proportion of people employed in skilled trades and process plant functions compared to both Scotland and GB.
Almost 62% of Lanarkshire's population are of working age compared to 61% for the rest of Scotland.
The working age population in Lanarkshire is expected to decline by 5.7% between 2006 and 2001, although this rate is less marked compared to the 7.4% decline forecast for Scotland over the same period.
These figures align with the pattern of an ageing population, combined with a shrinking workforce, existent in other regions of the UK and most of Western Europe.

The strength of the local learning infrastructure and Lanarkshire's links with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the wider region has been a feature of the area's success.
There are five Higher and Further education colleges in Lanarkshire, all of whom have close working relationships with local industry, and work effectively to create bespoke courses to create relevant, skilled individuals to fit the local markets.
Educational attainment at Lanarkshire schools is close to the national average with a similar proportion of pupils achieving SCQF level 4 in their S4 exams.
Some 48,000 Lanarkshire based students were in Further Education in 2003-04. Computing was the most popular course type in Lanarkshire and Glasgow FE Colleges that year.
Lanarkshire accounts for 11% of all Scottish HEI students in the UK and 12% of all Scottish students studying in Scotland.
Almost 20,000 Lanarkshire domiciled students were in Higher Education across the UK in 2003-04. Most of these were in Scotland and most were doing first degrees.
Thirteen of Scotland's twenty universities are within easy reach of Lanarkshire representing 70% of the country's student population, nearly 140,000 individuals.

Lanarkshire