Minorities in Scotland

The proportion of the population from non-white ethnic groups is just 4% in Scotland, compared with around 13% across the UK.

People from ethnic minorities in Scotland are four times more likely than the general population to live in overcrowded accommodation, 11.8% compared with 2.9%, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

They are also twice as likely to be poor and out of work.

After housing costs, 36% of people from ethnic minorities were in poverty, compared with 17% of white people.

Unemployment rates for people from ethnic minorities in 2013 were significantly higher than for the population as a whole - 13.2% compared with 6.9%.

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children do much worse at school than their white classmates.

Just over half of Gypsies and Travellers in Scotland are economically inactive, and many live in what the Scottish Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee described as "horrendous conditions". In Scotland, a greater proportion of Gypsy/Travellers rated their health as "bad" or "very bad" (15%) compared with the average for Scotland (6%).

A Scottish government analysis of the 2011 Census found that older Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women report considerably worse health than older men in these ethnic minorities.

Research by the Marie Curie terminal care charity found that Black, Asian and "Other" ethnic minority communities are underrepresented among those using palliative care services at the end of life.

There are more foetal and infant deaths where the mother identifies as "South Asian" or "Other" ethnicity than would be expected.

The report also highlights what it calls "significant occupational segregation". People from an ethnic minority background are underrepresented in senior management jobs in Scotland; in the police and criminal justice system; on local councils; and in take-up of Modern Apprenticeships. Indians living in Scotland, 38% work in wholesale or retail (compared with 15% for the general population). And almost a third of Chinese people here are employed in the accommodation and food industries (against a 6% national figure).

Polish people had the highest rates of work - 81% are either employed or self-employed.