General practice list sizes and demographics
Official statistics
- Published
- 03 February 2026 (Latest release)
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
- Primary care
About this release
This quarterly release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information as at 1 January 2026 on the number of patients registered at GP practices in Scotland. It includes statistics on practice list sizes by age, sex, deprivation and urban-rural classification, based on the patient's postcode, as well as quarterly and annual trends.
Main points
As at 1 January 2026:
- There were 6,058,378 people registered with a GP practice in Scotland.
- Since the last quarter there have been 45,865 newly registered patients in Scotland.
- The number of patients aged 65 and over has increased by 4.6% since January 2024, from 1,139,027 to 1,191,854 in January 2026.
Background
The new publication replaces the previous quarterly General Practice demographics release and the annual GP practice list sizes release, bringing together all available information on practice list sizes.
The accompanying data visualisation provides quarterly and annual trends available at Scotland, NHS Board, Health and Social Care Partnership and GP Cluster level, by age group and sex. Practice list sizes for the latest quarter are also available by deprivation and urban-rural classification. These are based on an individual's area of residence, and are measured using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) and Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification. Data downloads are also available as part of the dashboard.
Information on the number of patients registered with general practices is sourced from the National CHI (Community Health Index) Database. Practice details are sourced from the National Primary Care Clinicians Database (NPCCD) which is maintained by NHS Boards.
Further information can be found on the General Practice in Scotland section of our website.
Further information
The next release of this publication will be April 2026.
General enquiries
If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please contact David Redpath at phs.generalpractice@phs.scot.
Media enquiries
If you have a media enquiry relating to this publication, please contact the Communications and Engagement team.
Requesting other formats and reporting issues
If you require publications or documents in other formats, please email phs.otherformats@phs.scot.
To report any issues with a publication, please email phs.generalpublications@phs.scot.