Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020: introduction

How SIMD was made

• We split Scotland into 6,976 small areas, called 'data zones', with roughly equal populations.
• Next, we looked at indicators to measure the different aspects of deprivation in each data zone, like pupil attainment, travel time to a GP, crime and unemployment.
• We then grouped over 30 indicators of deprivation into seven types, called 'domains'.
• We combined the seven domains into one index, ranking each data zone in Scotland from 1 (most deprived) to 6,976 (least deprived).

Focusing on small areas shows the different issues there are in each neighbourhood. These could be poor housing conditions, a lack of skills or good education, or poor public transport.

Here's an example of what a data zone looks like:

You can find out about the data zone where you live, if you go online to http://simd.scot