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Publication - Statistics

Results from the Scottish Agricultural Census: June 2023

Published
31 October 2023
From
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands
Directorate
Environment and Forestry Directorate, +1 more … Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate
Topic
Farming and rural

Final results from the 2023 June Agricultural Census on land use, crop areas, livestock and the number of people working on agricultural holdings. Estimates for 2022 are published in the supporting documents.

Supporting documents

Most working occupiers are aged 45 years or over

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 per cent are male and 35 per cent are female.

The vast majority of working occupiers are aged 45 years or over. In June 2023, only 15 per cent of the total working occupiers were 44 or under. Male and female working occupiers are generally similar ages.

However, this estimate may not include some family members who also provide some labour.

Not all responses to the census provide occupier age and sex, therefore this information comes from a subset of the census returns (16,600 occupiers). The numbers shown in the chart are therefore the number of respondents to this question and not the total number of occupiers in Scotland.

Figure 15: Age profile of male and female working occupiers as a percentage of each category, 2023

Side by side comparison bar chart of occupiers ages by sex of occupier in 2023 as a percentage. Male working occupiers age profile is as follows: 36 per cent were aged 64 years and over, 30 percent were aged 55 to 64 years of age, 18 per cent were aged 45 to 54 years of age, 10 percent were aged 35 to 44 years of age, five per cent were aged 25 to 34 and one per cent were aged under 25 years of age. Female working occupiers age profile is as follows: 36 per cent were aged 64 years and over, 31 percent were aged 55 to 64 years of age, 20 per cent were aged 45 to 54 years of age, 9 percent were aged 35 to 44 years of age, four percent were between the ages of 25 to 34.and half a per cent were aged under 25 years of age.

Figure 16: Percentage and total of working occupiers split by male and female

Bar chart of working occupiers in 2023. Male bar showing 10,800 number of working occupiers, accounting for 65 per cent of all working occupiers. Female bar showing 5,800 number of working occupiers, accounting for 35 per cent of all working occupiers. Total occupiers are lower in this graph due to the results reflecting responses where only sex was provided.

 

Contact

Email: agric.stats@gov.scot

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