Rural Scotland Key Facts 2015

People and Communities

Demographics

Table 1: Population by geographic area, 2001, 2011, 2012 & 2013

	2001	2011	2012	2013	% change 2001- 2013	% change 2012- 2013
Remote Rural	305,948	326,841	326,888	326,574	6.7%	-0.1%
Accessible Rural	565,660	642,398	646,995	653,663	15.6%	1.0%
Rest of Scotland	4,192,592	4,330,661	4,339,717	4,347,463	3.7%	0.2%
Total	5,064,200	5,299,900	5,313,600	5,327,700	5.2%	0.3%

Source: Mid-year population estimates based on data zones, National Records of Scotland
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification, 2013-2014)

Table 1 shows the population figures from the last two censuses as well as the two most recently available years. Just over 5.3 million people live in Scotland, with almost one million of them living in rural areas.

Table 1 shows that between 2001 and 2013, the population has increased in all areas of Scotland. The greatest increase in population has been in accessible rural areas, with a 15.6% increase between 2001 and 2013, compared to an increase of 6.7% in remote rural areas and 3.7% in the rest of Scotland.

In more recent years the population in remote rural areas has fallen slightly, there was a decrease of 0.1% between 2012 and 2013. In contrast, the population in accessible rural areas increased by 1.0% in the same period.

The overall increase in population in accessible rural areas between 2012 and 2013 was primarily due to the positive net migration rates. While there was a positive net migration rate in remote rural areas, this was more than cancelled out by the higher death rate than birth rate (as shown in Table 2).

Figure 1: Percentage of population and land by geographic area, 2013

Source: Mid-year population estimates based on data zones, National Records of Scotland
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

The total land mass of Scotland is approximately 7.8 million hectares. Figure 1 shows that although rural Scotland accounts for 18% of the total population in Scotland (6% in remote rural and 12% in accessible rural), it accounts for 98% of the land mass in Scotland (70% in remote rural and 27% in accessible rural). This reflects the dispersed nature of the population in rural areas. In contrast the rest of Scotland accounts for 82% of the population of Scotland but only 2% of the land mass.

Figure 2: Age distribution of population by geographic area, 2013

Source: Mid-year population estimates based on data zones, National Records of Scotland
(Using the Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 2 shows that the age distribution of rural areas compared to the rest of Scotland is markedly different for particular groups of the population. Specifically, rural areas have a much lower proportion of the population in the age range 16 to 34 but a higher proportion of people aged 45 and over. Evidence suggests that factors influencing migration decisions of young people moving out of rural areas could be higher education and employment opportunities, housing and public transport availability.

Table 2: Internal population change and migration by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Births (2013)	2,573	6,488	46,953
Births per 1,000 population	8	10	11
Deaths (2013)	3,565	5,837	45,298
Deaths per 1,000 population	11	9	10
Migration (2012-13)
In-migration	17,384	40,036	98,585
Out-migration	17,017	35,840	93,186
Net Migration	367	4,196	5,399
Net Migration as % of population	0.1%	0.6%	0.1%

Source: Migration Statistics, National Records of Scotland
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 2 shows that the birth rate (per 1,000 population) exceeded the death rate in accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland but not in remote rural areas.

The rate of births was higher in rest of Scotland (11 per 1,000 population) than in accessible rural (ten per 1,000 population) and remote rural (eight per 1,000 population) areas. The rate of deaths was higher in remote rural (11 per 1,000 population) than in the rest of Scotland (ten per 1,000 population) and accessible rural (nine per 1,000 population) areas.

The table also shows positive net migration into all three areas of Scotland over the year 2012-13, i.e. the number of in-migrants was greater than the number of out-migrants. The net migration rate was highest in accessible rural areas, equivalent to 0.6% of the population.

Table 3: Country of birth by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Scotland	73%	80%	84%
Rest of UK	22%	16%	9%
Rest of World	5%	4%	7%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 3 shows the proportions of Scotland's current population that were born in Scotland, in the rest of the United Kingdom and in the rest of the world. The table shows that the area with highest proportion of residents who were born in the UK but outside of Scotland is remote rural areas at 22%. The rate for accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland were 16% and 9% respectively.

The area with the highest proportion of residents that were born outside the UK is the rest of Scotland (7%). In remote rural areas 5% of residents were born outside of the UK, in accessible rural areas it was 4%.

Households

Table 4: Household type¹ by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Single adult	13%	13%	20%
Small adult	13%	18%	17%
Single parent	3%	4%	5%
Small family	12%	14%	13%
Large family	6%	7%	5%
Large adult	10%	10%	10%
Older smaller	23%	21%	14%
Single pensioner	20%	14%	16%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. A description of all household types can be found under Definitions in the Notes section.

Table 4 shows that, relative to the rest of Scotland, remote and accessible rural Scotland have lower percentages of single adult households. Rural Scotland also has a higher percentage of 'older smaller' households, where one or both adults are of pensionable age, while remote rural areas have a higher proportion of single pensioner households compared to accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland.

Neighbourhood and Community

Figure 3: Rating of neighbourhood as a place to live by geographic area, 2013

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 3 shows that across all areas of Scotland, over 90% of residents rate their neighbourhood as a 'very good' or 'fairly good' place to live.

People living in remote rural areas are more likely to describe their neighbourhood as a 'very good' place to live (73%), compared to accessible rural areas (67%) and the rest of Scotland (52%).

Figure 4 and Tables 5 to 7 provide further detail on neighbourhoods and safety which may explain the results shown above.

In 2007, the Scottish Government introduced a National Indicator to increase the percentage of adults who rate their neighbourhood as a good place to live^[1].

Figure 4: Percentage of people who feel they belong to their immediate neighbourhood by geographic area, 2013

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

A higher proportion of people who live in remote rural areas either feel very or fairly strongly that they belong to their immediate neighbourhood than either people in accessible rural areas or the rest of Scotland. In remote rural areas over half of people feel very strongly that they belong to their immediate neighbourhood.

The proportion of people living in the rest of Scotland and accessible rural areas that either feel not very, or not at all strongly that they belong to their immediate neighbourhood are similar (23% and 19% respectively). In remote rural areas the proportion of people that either feel not very, or not at all strongly that they belong to their immediate neighbourhood is lower (12%).

Table 5: Experience of neighbourhood problems¹ by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Vandalism, graffiti or other deliberate damage to property	2%	3%	6%
Groups or individuals intimidating or harassing others	1%	1%	4%
Seeing drug misuse or dealing	2%	2%	6%
Rowdy behaviour e.g. drunkeness, hooliganism or loutish behaviour	3%	4%	11%
Noisy neighbours or regular loud parties	3%	3%	12%
Neighbour disputes	3%	3%	6%
Rubbish or litter lying around	18%	15%	22%
Abandoned or burnt out vehicles	1%	1%	1%
Animal nuisance such as noise or dog fouling	26%	29%	32%
None	60%	59%	49%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. Respondents can choose more than one option.

Table 5 shows that, across the range of categories, a lower percentage of people in remote and accessible rural areas have experienced neighbourhood problems. For example, only 3% in both remote and accessible rural areas say they have had a problem with noisy neighbours or loud parties while the figure is 12% in the rest of Scotland. Similarly, 18% and 15% of people in remote and accessible rural areas respectively state that rubbish or litter lying around is a problem, whilst 22% state this is a problem in the rest of Scotland.

Around 60% of people in rural Scotland have experienced none of the neighbourhood problems listed. This compares to 49% in the rest of Scotland.

Table 6: Perceptions of safety when at home alone at night by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Very safe	93%	90%	82%
Fairly safe	6%	9%	15%
A bit unsafe	0%	0%	1%
Very unsafe	1%	1%	2%
Don't know	0%	-	0%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 6 shows that the vast majority of people in all areas of Scotland feel either 'very safe' or 'fairly safe' when at home alone at night. However, a higher proportion of people in remote rural (93%) and accessible rural areas (90%) state they feel 'very safe' compared to the rest of Scotland (82%).

Looking at people who felt 'very unsafe' when at home alone at night, there are 2% of people in the rest of Scotland who feel this way. This compares to 1% in both remote rural and accessible rural areas.

Table 7: Crime victimisation and perception of change in crimes rates over previous two years by geographic area, 2012-13

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Percentage of adults who had been the victims of crime in the last 12 months	8%	10%	19%
Proportion of adults who perceived that:
Crime rate has increased over last 2 years	17%	16%	20%
Crime rate has stayed the same over last 2 years	76%	71%	64%
Crime rate has decreased over last 2 years	4%	8%	11%
Don't know	3%	5%	5%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, 2012-13
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2011-2012)

The crime victimisation rates in Table 7 may provide an explanation as to why residents of rural Scotland are more likely to feel safe alone in their home at night (as shown in Table 6). A smaller proportion of residents of remote (8%) and accessible rural (10%) areas had been victims of crime in the past 12 months than in the rest of Scotland (19%).

In terms of perception, people from all areas of Scotland are most likely to state that they feel crime rates have remained the same over the last two years. Of those who feel there has been a change, more feel that crime rates have increased as opposed to decreased. A lower proportion of people in rural Scotland state they feel crime has increased, when compared to the rest of Scotland. However, this is also true of the proportion of people who feel crime has decreased.

In 2007, the Scottish Government introduced National Indicators to reduce overall crime victimisation rates^[2] and to increase positive public perception of the general crime rate in the local area^[3].

Figure 5: Whether respondent gave their time to help as an organiser/volunteer in the past 12 months by age and geographic area, 2013

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

In rural Scotland, a higher proportion of people give up their time to help as an organiser or a volunteer than in the rest of Scotland. This difference is more noticeable for people aged 65 and over, with 36% of this age group in remote rural areas and 33% in accessible rural areas giving up time to work as a volunteer/organiser, compared to 23% in the rest of Scotland. A greater proportion of people aged 16 to 64 gave up time to work as a volunteer/organiser, compared to people aged 65 and over, in remote rural areas and the rest of Scotland. The proportion is almost the same in accessible rural areas.

Physical Environment

Table 8: Walking distance to nearest greenspace¹ by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
In 5 minutes	73%	79%	67%
6-10 minutes	11%	11%	21%
Within an 11-20 minute walk	6%	4%	9%
Within a 21-30 minute walk	2%	2%	2%
More than a 30 minute walk away	8%	4%	2%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. A greenspace is a park, green or other area of grass. It does not include private gardens.

Around three quarters of people living in rural Scotland live within five minutes walking distance of a greenspace. This falls to around two thirds of people in the rest of Scotland. When looking at those people who are within ten minutes walking distance of a greenspace, the highest proportion is in accessible rural areas (90%), followed by the rest of Scotland (88%) and the lowest proportion is in remote rural areas (84%).

However, remote rural areas have the highest proportion of people living more than
30 minutes walk from a greenspace (8%), while the rest of Scotland has the lowest proportion (2%).

Table 9: Satisfaction with local greenspaces¹ by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Very satisfied	52%	45%	33%
Fairly satisfied	32%	35%	42%
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	3%	8%	9%
Fairly dissatisfied	4%	5%	6%
Very dissatisfied	1%	3%	4%
No opinion	7%	5%	6%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. A greenspace is a park, green or other area of grass. It does not include private gardens.

In remote rural areas over half of people are very satisfied with their local greenspace. In total, 84% of people living in remote rural areas are either very or fairly satisfied with their local greenspace. This compares to 80% in accessible rural areas and 75% in the rest of Scotland.

Only 1% of people in remote rural areas are very dissatisfied with their local greenspace. This rises slightly for both accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland (3% and 4% respectively).

Tables 8 and 9 show that not only are people in rural areas of Scotland likely to live closer to their nearest greenspace (within five minutes walk), but they are also more likely to be satisfied with the quality of their local greenspace compared to the rest of Scotland.