THE number of non-British nationals living in Argyll and Bute has stayed the same even with Brexit fears hanging over Scotland.
According to newly-released figures from National Records of Scotland, an estimated 4,000 non-British nationals were living in the area as of June 2020, a similar figure to the estimated 4,000 said to be living in Argyll and Bute as of June 2019.
Around half of those hail from EU member countries, with the other half split between non-EU nations in Europe and the rest of the world.
It was projected that 409,000 non-British nationals were living in Scotland in 2020 – an increase of 36,000 since June 2019.
Overall, Polish remained the most common non-British nationality, accounting for 22 per cent of the total non-British population.
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The second most common non-British nationality was Indian with 22,000 people.
There is no breakdown in the NRS figures of how many non-British nationals are living in Helensburgh and Lomond.
Argyll and Bute MP, Brendan O’Hara said that regardless of where people come from, if they choose to make the area their home they’ll feel ‘very, very welcome’.
He said: “We desperately need to reverse population decline and that means encouraging young, economically active people in particular to come here, put down roots, start a family and help our communities to grow.
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“Regardless of where they’ve come from, I want people to view Argyll and Bute as a great place they can live, work and enjoy our wonderful environment.
“Scotland has benefited from centuries of immigration and those immigrants have enriched our society enormously and I believe we can encourage another generation of new Scots to do the same.”
Alan Ferrier, head of demographic statistics at the NRS, said: “The number of non-British nationals living in Scotland has increased over the latest year, and now represents around one in 13 people living in Scotland.
“This latest change was largely driven by an increase in non-EU nationals.”
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