Rural Scotland rated very good place to live

21st March 2015

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published the Rural Scotland Key Facts 2015. The publication brings together previously published statistics on a range of key policy areas, providing comparisons between remote rural areas, accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland. The statistics provide a valuable evidence base on issues affecting rural Scotland.

The publication is grouped into three sections:

People and Communities: Including data on population changes, age distributions, household composition, experience of crime and neighbourhood likes and dislikes.
Services and Lifestyle: Including data on access to services, travel patterns, educational attainment, life expectancy, house prices, housing quality and rates of fuel poverty.
Economy and Enterprise: Including data on employment and unemployment rates, industry size, earnings and patterns of work.
Some examples of the results contained in the publication are provided below. Comparisons between rural areas (remote and accessible), and the rest of Scotland show that rural areas have:

a population that is increasing faster than in the rest of Scotland and higher rates of in‑migration.
higher rates of economically active people and more households where total income exceeds £20,000 per year.
longer life expectancies, fewer emergency hospital admissions and fewer people who smoke.
a higher proportion of people who volunteer in their community, rate their neighbourhood as a ‘very good' place to live and feel they belong to their immediate neighbourhood.

Rural areas also have:
more expensive housing stock and a higher rate of households in fuel poverty.
a higher proportion of households spending over £100 a month on fuel for cars.
fewer residents who find key services convenient and who are satisfied with the quality of public transport services delivered.
fewer children who walk or cycle to school and fewer adults use public transport to travel to work or education.

The Rural Scotland Key Facts is a biennial compendium publication. The full statistical publication can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/stats/bulletins/01137

The definition of remote rural and accessible rural is based on the Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification. Most of the tables and charts are based on the Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014, unless otherwise stated.

Further information on the Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/urbanrural