Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020: introduction

This booklet provides an overview of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 - a tool for identifying the places where people are experiencing disadvantage across different aspects of their lives.


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:

SIMD data zone

General Data

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

Contact

Email: elizabeth.fraser@gov.scot

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