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Annual Rural Report 2004

Summary of Key Facts on Rural Scotland

People and Communities

• There are almost 1 million people currently living in rural Scotland. That reflects almost 20% of the population of Scotland. Of these, around 6% live in remote rural areas with the remainder living in accessible rural areas.
• Scotland's rural population is ageing and has significantly more individuals aged 50 and over and fewer aged 15-30 than the rest of Scotland.
• Some 70% of households in accessible rural areas own their house outright or are buying them with a mortgage or loan compared to 68% in remote rural areas and 60% in the rest of Scotland.
• Individuals in rural areas feel a great deal more involved in their community compared to those in rest of Scotland: 35% in accessible rural areas, 46% in remote rural areas and 23% in rest of Scotland.
• People living in rural communities are also more likely to give up time to volunteer compared to those living in the rest of Scotland. The proportion of volunteers increases is 33% in accessible rural areas, 38% in remote rural areas compared to 24% in rest of Scotland.
• People living in rural areas are less likely to encounter anti-social behaviour than people in the rest of Scotland. Some 18% of people in accessible rural areas and 10% in remote rural areas report "rubbish or litter" problems compared to 32% in rest of Scotland.
• A greater proportion of individuals in rural areas report that their health is good compared to those in rest of Scotland, 88% of people in accessible rural and 90% of people in remote rural report good health compared to 85% in rest of Scotland.
• There is a significantly higher proportion of people within rural areas who walk at least once a week for pleasure or to keep fit (53% in accessible rural, 54% in remote rural and 40% in rest of Scotland).

Services and Lifestyle

• Of the working population, 54% of those who live in an accessible rural area commuted outside their area compared to 28% who live in remote rural areas and commuted outside. For those living in the rest of Scotland, 9% commuted outside their area.
• 77% of people living in accessible rural areas and 76% of those living in remote rural areas hold a full driving licence compared to 62% in the rest of Scotland. Furthermore, around 80% of rural households have access to at least one car compared to 61% in rest of Scotland.
• Over 65% of people living in rural areas travel to work by car. This compares to 50% of people in the rest of Scotland.
• 12% of households in remote rural areas have no bus service. Furthermore, 43% of households in remote rural areas have to wait over an hour between services. This is compared to just 1% of households in the rest of Scotland.
• 96% of households in the rest of Scotland live within 5 minutes' drive of a GP surgery compared to 60% in accessible rural areas and 47% in remote rural areas.
• There are significant differences in the travelling distance to primary and secondary schools in rural and urban areas. In the rest of Scotland, over 70% of primary age children live within 1 km of their school compared to 56% in rural areas.
• Just 15% of secondary school children in rural areas live within 2 km compared to 71% of pupils in the rest of Scotland.
• A key difference between pupils across Scotland is leaver destination. Pupils, particularly those in remote rural areas, are considerably more likely to go into employment or higher education than other areas.

Enterprise and Economy

• 84% of businesses in Scotland feel they are doing fine or really well. There are no significant differences between businesses in rural areas and those in the rest of Scotland,
• 69% of businesses in Scotland are family owned, a greater proportion of which are in rural areas (73% in both accessible and remote rural areas compared to 64% in the rest of Scotland).
• 81% of businesses in the rest of Scotland use PCs compared to 77% in the accessible rural areas and 69% in remote rural areas. A larger proportion of businesses in rural areas do not use IT - 23% in accessible rural and 31% in remote rural do not use IT compared to 19% of businesses in the rest of Scotland.
• In 2002, the proportion of economically active people in rural Scotland as a proportion of all people of working age in rural Scotland was 82.1%. The comparable figure for rest of Scotland is 78%.
• The proportion of self-employed in rural Scotland is higher than in the rest of Scotland. In 2002, 15% of all employees in rural Scotland were self employed compared to the equivalent figure for rest of Scotland of 7.8%.
• Rural Scotland has a higher proportion of people of working age employed in agriculture, fishing, energy and water (9.9% for rural compared to 3.1% for rest of Scotland). Non-rural areas have a higher proportion of people of working-age employed in manufacturing (14.1% rest of Scotland compared to 11.4% rural) and banking and finance (15.7% rest of Scotland compared to 11% rural).
• Just over 30% of households in rural areas have a net annual income of 20,000 and over compared to just over 25% of Scotland as a whole.
• Average gross weekly wages are lower in rural local authorities in Scotland than in the rest of the Scotland. In 2002, gross weekly earnings in rural local authorities in Scotland were 391 (8% lower than the Scottish average).

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