Most working occupiers are aged 45 years and over

The vast majority of working occupiers are aged 45 years and over. In 2024, 15% of the total working occupiers were 44 years and under. Male and female working occupiers are generally similar ages. However, this estimate may not include some family members who also provide some labour. 

Figure 13: Age profile of male and female working occupiers, 2024

The majority of the workforce are owner-occupiers, made up of people who own or rent the farm and work on it. Of all working occupiers, 65% were male and 35%  were female. 

Figure 14: Male and female working occupier time, 2024

In this year’s agricultural census a ‘prefer not to say’ option was added as a question response (in addition to ‘male’ and ‘female’) when asking occupiers about their sex.  

Not all responses to the agricultural census provide occupier sex (and age) information, therefore, the information here comes from a subset of the census returns depending on whether we are looking solely at sex or age and sex. 

The figures presented here relate only to those who provided an answer and not the total number of occupiers in Scotland. In addition, the figures do not include those that selected ‘prefer not to say’ (0.5% of working occupiers who provided an answer) and full details can be found in table 9 of the supporting spreadsheet tables.