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Nearly two-thirds of the population considers themselves to be Scottish alone, new data from the 2011 Census has shown.

With just over six months until the referendum on Scottish independence, the data shows nearly one in three people do not regard themselves as British in any way.

Information released on Thursday showed 62.4% of Scotland’s 5.3 million population see themselves as Scottish only, while just 18.3% of people fewer than one in five feel they are Scottish and British.

Young people are more likely to consider themselves to be solely Scottish than those in older age groups.

The data also revealed the number of Scots who do not have a religious identity outnumbers those belonging to a single faith group.

Nearly a third of Scots, 32.4%, consider themselves to have a Church of Scotland identity, while 15.9% consider themselves Roman Catholic. Only 1.4% identify as Muslim. By comparison, 36.7% of Scotland claim not to have any religious identity at all.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Scotland is a culturally, religious and ethnically diverse place and these pictures paint a fascinating portrait of Scotland today, telling us more about the people who make up our Scottish nation.

“What unites us is our very strong sense of Scottish identity, with 83% feeling either solely Scottish or Scottish and something else, compared to, for example 70% of people in England feeling English.

“Young people feel a particularly strong sense of Scottish identity, with 71% of 10 to 14-year-olds, and 70% of 15 to 19-year-olds, feeling Scottish only.”

Only 4% of the Scottish population is non-white. Of the 369,284 people who were born outside the UK and are now living in Scotland, nearly one in four (22.1%) have lived here for less than two years.

In Dundee, 32% of non-British residents had lived in the UK for less than two years at the time of the census.

The 2011 census asked “What do you feel is your national identity?” and respondents were told to tick all the options Scottish, English, Welsh, Northern Irish, British or other that applied.

The census results differ from the 2013 Social Attitudes Survey, which found mixed Scottish and British identities were the most popular choices 29% said they were “more Scottish than British” while another 29% answered “equally Scottish and British”.

More than a third of people from ethnic minority groups (34%) felt Scottish or Scottish in addition to another identity, and 60% of people from a mixed background had some form of Scottish identity.

The data also revealed there are widespread regional variations in how people view themselves. While 66.8% of people in Angus consider themselves Scottish alone, in Stirling just 57.5% of people regard themselves in the same way.

Dundee has the highest proportion of Muslim residents in Courier Country and is the most racially diverse council area in Courier Country, with 6% coming from a non-white background.