New data has revealed that the population of Ayrshire has decreased over the past decade.

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) statistics revealed figures from Scotland's Census 2022, to show that the population across East, South and North Ayrshire has decreased from around 373,712 in 2011, to 365,300 in the latest data.

The latest figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.

North Ayrshire recorded the highest percentage decrease, dropping by 3.5 per cent from 138,146 in 2011 to 133,400 in 2022.

East Ayrshire dropped by 2.1 per cent from 122,767 (2011) to 120,300 (2022).

South Ayrshire only decreased by around 1.1 per cent from 112,799 in 2011 to 111,600 in the new stats.

North Ayrshire's population was broken down by 69,700 females and 63,800 males.

The area has around 31,700 residents aged over 65 and 19,800 aged under 14.

According to the data, East Ayrshire has 61,900 females and 58,400 males.

There are 25,800 people living in East Ayrshire who are aged over 65 and 19,000 people ages under 14.

As for South Ayrshire, 58,100 females were counted, along with 53,500 males.

South Ayrshire has 29,400 people ages over 65, according to the figures.

15,700 people living in South Ayrshire are aged under 14.

The population of Scotland was estimated to be 5,436,600 on census day last year - the largest population ever recorded for the country and a rise of 141,200 or 2.7 per cent since 2011.

This is a slower rate of growth than between 2001 and 2011, when the population grew by 233,400 (4.6 per cent). Without migration the population of Scotland would have decreased by around 49,800 since 2011.

The other UK censuses showed higher rates of population growth than in Scotland. The population increased by 6.3 per cent in England and Wales, and by 5.1 per cent in Northern Ireland between 2011 and 2021.

Chief executive Janet Egdell said: "This is an exciting milestone for Scotland's Census and the results paint a fascinating picture of how Scotland and our communities are changing.

“Census data is vital for planning health services, education and transport and the information published through our results will help local and central government, businesses and charities to shape Scotland for years to come.”