Almost half of the council wards in the Scottish Highlands have experienced a decline in their populations over the past ten years, stark new figures show.
The first release of data from Scotland’s Census 2022 last year looked at population change across council areas.
The latest data, released today, digs deeper, examining changes in smaller areas.
It shows that the Highland Council area saw a 1.4% increase in its population between 2011 and 2022.
However, change varied substantially between electoral ward with ten of the twenty-one wards experiencing a drop in their populations.
The largest decreases were in Inverness Millburn (down 8.2%) and Thurso and Northwest Caithness (down 7.0%).
The largest increase was in Inverness South, where the population has risen by 27.7% while the neighbouring ward of Badenoch and Strathspey, which includes Aviemore, declined by 6.5%.
The area, which falls within the Cairngorms National Park, has lost two primary schools in recent years.
North West and Central Sutherland saw numbers decrease by 5.6%, while Wick and East Caithness was down by 2.6%.
The Isle of Skye has seen its community grow by 5%.
Professor David Bell, an expert in demographic change who is based in Dornoch, said: "Some parts of the Highlands and Islands are growing the share of their older population at three times the rate of Scotland as a whole and losing young people at twice the Scottish rate."
Kate Forbes, constituency MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, said the figures "make clear" that more needs to be done to retain families.
She said: "Given the proximity of Aviemore to the Highland capital, I think these latest figures raise a few questions– and as the constituency MSP for the area I find the rate of depopulation very concerning.
“Both Dalwhinnie and Laggan have lost their primary schools in recent years, so in some ways the warning signs were there, especially for south Badenoch.
“It is clear more needs to be done to retain local families, and the availability of jobs and affordable homes is a key issue. The area relies heavily on tourism, and Brexit has been a massive factor too.
“I know that the First Minister is keen to listen to the voices of rural Scots, and has already been doing so in his first few weeks in the job.”
Jamie Stone, Liberal Democrat MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, added: "'It is a historical fact that the establishment of Dounreay in the 1950s, and ensuing development in the decades that followed, not only halted the curse of the Highlands - namely depopulation - but reversed it.
"The simple fact is that less high-quality employment is on offer in the Far North.
"Consequently, young families who vote with their feet simply move away. More than anything else, this is what drives my efforts to establish high quality employment opportunities across my constituency'
The latest figures follow The Herald's agenda-setting series in January which examined the reasons why areas of the Highlands and Islands are being "drained of people".
Growth in the Highlands between 2011 and 2022 was 1.4% - less than half that of Scotland overall, while the Western Isles is expected to experience a 6% decline by 2028.
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More light can be shed on the gravity of the situation by secondary school roll forecasts which are predicting a 12.5% decline over the next 15 years when Inverness is taken out of the equation.
Highland Council said in its December report that the latest census figures suggest that efforts by the Scottish Government to stem population decline are having little effect in terms of altering the current trajectory and doing more of the same is unlikely to deliver a different outcome.
The Scottish Government published an action plan to tackle depopulation weeks after The Herald series but acknowledged there is "no quick fix".
A new Addressing Depopulation Fund will make £180,000 available to areas facing the most acute challenges.
In 2018 a Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) survey of young people found that for the first time, more young people wanted to stay in their home towns after leaving school but this was dependant on decent jobs with prospects, having somewhere nice and affordable to stay, and digital connectivity.
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