About Berwickshire
Berwickshire is the middle-sized of the five Scottish Borders Area Partnerships, in terms of both its square mileage and its population, with an estimated population count of 22,026 in the 2022 Census. View a map of the Berwickshire area.
The main towns in Berwickshire are:
- Eyemouth (3,698)
- Duns (3,117)
- Coldstream (2,028)
The only other settlement in Berwickshire with a population above 1.5k is Chirnside (1,745)
Larger villages include:
- Ayton (650)
- Greenlaw (613)
- Coldingham (516)
Berwickshire is the most rural of the five area partnership localities, with 43.6% of the population (9,605 people) living outside a settlement of 500 people.
Annual population estimates for settlements over 500 people are recorded by National Records of Scotland.
Population counts for settlements below 500 people are recorded by the decennial Population Census.
Settlements in Berwickshire that had a population of less than 500 in the 2022 Census include:
- Gordon (436)
- Paxton (432)
- Reston (413)
- Cockburnspath (408)
- Foulden (391)
- Longformacus (288)
- Swinton (274)
- Grantshouse (252)
- Gavinton (251)
- Birgham (236)
- Leitholm (222)
- Westruther (189)
- Burnmouth (183)
- Lamberton (166)
- St Abbs (159)
- Whitsome (121)
- Hume (119)
- Hutton (119)
- Allanton (111)
- Auchencrow (106)
- Cove (62)
Population Change in Berwickshire
The population of Berwickshire grew by 4.6% between the 2011 and the 2022 Censuses but population growth has been uneven in the locality.
In the larger settlements, Chirnside saw the biggest growth, increasing at a rate of 19.6%.
Duns also saw big increases, at a rate of 13.2% between 2011 and 2022.
The population of Eyemouth remained unchanged, having successfully stemmed the population loss from previous decades.
In the smaller settlements, Ayton, Paxton, Longformacus and Gavinton also saw big population gains.
The smaller settlements with the biggest population losses were Birgham, Coldingham, Greenlaw and Cockburnspath.
There is also a slow but steady trend of people moving away from isolated hamlets and farmsteads, towards established settlements.