Glasgow's population growing faster than predicted

But, at the same time, people in the Scotland's largest city do not feel as healthy as the rest of the country.

However, nearly half the people in Glasgow are single.

Newly released figures included in the Scottish census reveal a wealth of facts and figures about the city.

Three years ago, the Evening Times revealed the number of people living in the city was rising for the first time in decades.

In 2001 the population was almost 578,000 but council bosses predicted it would top 600,000 by 2018.

But new figures show Glasgow's population of 593,245 had almost reached that figure by 2011.

One of the largest population increases in the decade up to 2011 took place in Calton and Bridgeton, where it was up 28%. Other growing areas are the city centre and Merchant City, which were up 36%; South Nitshill and Darnley up 31%; Yorkhill and Anderston, Carmunnock up 24%; Broomhill and Partick West and Pollok up 22%.

Richard Brown, the city council's executive director of development and regeneration, said in a report: "The fact Glasgow's population has grown during 2001 to 2011 represents substantial progress when set against rates of decline in previous decades.

"Yet the rate of growth at 2.7% is low compared with the rate of growth achieved by other UK cities.

"Only Dundee had a lower rate of growth at 1.1%, while Manchester had the highest growth rate at 28.1%"

Council leader Gordon Matheson, who represents the city centre, welcomed the increase in the number of people moving into the area.

He said: "Everyone knows Glasgow city centre is a vibrant area for shopping and entertainment, but I believe a strong city centre should not only be a dynamic destination to visit, but also a welcoming and rewarding place in which to live and work."

Easterhouse had the highest rate of population loss, falling 17%, while Sighthill, Roystonhill and Germiston were down 14% and Balornock, Barmulloch and Toryglen were down 9%.

Councillor Gerry Leonard, whose North-east ward takes in Easterhouse, said the fall in the population was due to rundown properties being demolished and people moved to housing elsewhere.

The number of children up to 15 years old living in the city fell more than 10% - almost twice the Scottish rate.

But the number of adults aged between 16 and 64 increased by more than 9%, which was above the Scottish figure.

On health, when people were asked if they classified their own as good or very good, 77.5% of people in Glasgow said they did. This was 4.7% down on the Scotland-wide figure.

When it comes to marital and civil partnership status nearly half the people in Glasgow are single (49.2%), against the national average of 35.4%.

The city also has a lower number of married people, 30.8%, as opposed to 45.2% across Scotland.

In comparison to other Scottish cities Glasgow has the highest population share of ethnic minority population at 11.6%. However, that is considerably less than some English cities, particularly Manchester (33.4%) and Birmingham 42.1%.

Mr Brown said: "Given the higher population share for ethnic minorities in Glasgow, it is not surprising 2.7% of the population - 15,400 people - do not speak English well or at all.

"Almost 7000 people, or 12.2% of Glasgow's population aged three plus, use a non-British language at home."

Meanwhile, the number of people in the city who can speak, read and write Gaelic has increased by about 18% to 3476.

When people were asked about their religion the census shows there been an increase in the last 10 years in the number with no religion, from 23% to 31%, with a corresponding fall in the number of people affiliated to the Church Of Scotland (down from 31% to 23%) and the Roman Catholic Church (down from 29% to 27%).

Relatively fewer households in the city have access to two or more cars (12.4%). The figure for households across Scotland was 27.2%.

And the car availability at 49.2% is considerably lower than in Scotland at 69.5%.

Liz Cameron, the council's spokeswoman for jobs and the economy, said: "We are a vibrant city full of life, love and leisure. Our city is among the most attractive and exciting in which to live and work.

"It is gratifying more and more big and small businesses are looking to invest in Glasgow.

"This is key to our bold vision and we are committed to building on these opportunities to create employment for our young and growing working age population.

"These are exciting times and I can think of no other place I would rather be. After all, people make Glasgow."

vivienne.nicoll@eveningtimes.co.uk