Neighbourhoods and communities 2023: Scottish Household Survey findings

Neighbourhood safety

In 2023, the majority of people (81%) said they felt ‘very’ or ‘fairly safe’ walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark (Table 2.51 in the supporting Excel workbook), and this is stable from 81% in 2022. There are differences by sex^[12], with 90% of men saying they would feel ‘very’ or ‘fairly safe’ walking alone after dark (a decrease from 92% in 2022). This compares to 73% of women feeling ‘very’ or ‘fairly safe’ (Table 2.51 in the supporting Excel workbook), stable since 2022.

Older people, and disabled people, feel less safe in their neighbourhoods. Sixty-one percent of adults aged 75 and over reported feeling ‘very’ or ‘fairly safe’ walking alone, compared to 88% of 35 to 44 year olds (Table 2.51 in the supporting Excel workbook). Disabled people are also much less likely than non-disabled people to report feeling safe walking alone after dark (64%, compared to 88% of non-disabled people) (Table 2.53 in the supporting Excel workbook). These differences have all maintained since 2022. Eighty percent of Roman Catholics felt safe in 2023 (Table 2.53 in the supporting Excel workbook), an increase of six percentage points (from 74% in 2022). For all other religions perceptions of safety have remained stable.

There is a clear association between how adults rated their neighbourhood and how safe they felt in their communities. Eighty-three percent of adults who rated their neighbourhood as ‘very’ or ‘fairly good', said they felt safe walking alone at night, compared with just 33% of adults who rated their neighbourhood as ‘very poor’ (Table 2.55 in the supporting Excel workbook).