Scotland faces skill shortages and more pressure on public services that are already “buckling under the strain” as the number of working-age people is poised to shrink, business leaders said.

Figures released yesterday predicted that the working-age population would fall by 7,000, or 0.2 per cent, over the next 25 years without changes to immigration rules.

The reduction would be exacerbated if immigration controls are tightened once Britain leaves the EU. If migration from Europe reduced by 50 per cent then the working-age population would drop by 1.9 per cent. The fall would be 3.7 per cent if inward movement stopped altogether.

The total number of people in the UK is projected to increase under all the scenarios and it is predicted that Britain’s population