The 14% fall is higher than that forecast for any other council area, with the exception of the western isles council, Eilean Siar.

Angus Council is also expected to suffer a big drop in its population, falling 9.2% from around 107,000 people to just over 98,000.

The projections for Perth and Kinross and Fife councils are somewhat better with expected population increases of 2% and 1.3% respectively.

The figures are contained in a report that says Scotland’s population is likely to fall from just over five million people to 4.94 million by 2018. They are the result of assumptions about future fertility, mortality and migration patterns based on past trends.

Mr Macniven stressed they are not a prediction of what will happen, but a projection of what the outcome would be based on the assumptions made.

The number of Dundonians has been dropping steadily for years, but the city council has been working to reverse the trend.

Lord Provost John Letford said, “We are trying hard to make our environment an attractive one for people to stay in, but we don’t know if we are succeeding in that.

“I think we are going in the right direction, but the question is if we are going fast enough.

“This is an extremely disappointing and worrying trend.

“We won’t know if these figures are entirely accurate, but it is still disappointing the population is continuing to fall.

“What we certainly can’t afford to do is sit back and say the figures might not be true. The situation requires a great deal of discussion if we are to go forward.”

It is widely accepted many Dundonians are choosing to live just outwith the city boundary, in the Angus, Fife and Perth and Kinross council areas, accounting for some of the decline in the recorded population within Dundee.

However, while there is some evidence to suggest that Fife and Perth and Kinross may be benefiting from this migration of commuters, Angus, where most of the new houses around Dundee have been built in recent years, is also suffering population decline.

Taken together, there is expected to be a drop in Dundee and Angus of 21,576 people and a combined gain in Perth and Kinross and Fife of just 7377, leaving a question mark hanging over the future location of 14,199 people.

Lord Provost Letford said it was a key strategy of the city council to ensure, as far as possible, that graduates at the two universities were encouraged to remain in the area.

He added, “I don’t have a problem with people living in the suburbs and working in the town — I am grateful they are working here and making a contribution.

“But there’s room in the city and we are working towards creating the right mix of housing that would attract people back within the council area.”

Scottish Executive finance and public services minister Andy Kerr said action was being taken nationally to tackle the demographic changes.

He said the figures confirmed what was already known — that Scotland’s population was on a downward trend.

Mr Kerr said, “The Executive is committed to building a better Scotland, a Scotland that is a great place to live and work with a high quality of life.

“We are determined that every single community in Scotland will benefit from Executive action aimed at growing the economy and closing the opportunity gap.

“At a national level, that underlines exactly why we are placing such a high priority on our Fresh Talent initiative, launched by the First Minister last year.

“The Executive is working hard to attract more people to Scotland and, of course, keep them here. We are not complacent on this important issue.

“The figures, however, reveal quite distinct variations at local level. They also raise important issues for fragile island communities and many of our urban areas.

“The Executive is alive to these challenges. We commissioned a review of our cities and invested £90 million to help them grow and take forward their visions for the future.

“We are also committed to maintaining strong, prosperous and growing communities in rural Scotland.

“We are doing this in a number of ways, including Initiative at the Edge, promoting rural economic development and tackling barriers to opportunity, all with the aim of increasing the viability of fragile and remote communities in rural areas.

“We have already taken radical steps to make sure NHS resource allocations reflect local needs, taking into account age and deprivation factors that have a big bearing on healthcare demands.

“The Executive's support for local government spending too reflects a wide range of factors–need in particular.”

n Elsewhere in Scotland, the greatest projected increase in population between 2002 and 2018 is in West Lothian with 15%, followed by East Lothian with 12% and Stirling with 9%.

The biggest projected increases in health board areas were in Lothian at 7% and Forth Valley at 4% while the biggest projected decreases were in the Western Isles with 17% and Orkney with 10.5%.