Work to support Rural Delivery Plan continues

Work to support Rural Delivery Plan continues
Alan Robertson

A compilation of time-series data showing Rural Scotland trends has been published by Scottish Government.

This compilation of time-series data shows Rural Scotland trends. It is accompanied by a data sheet. Key trends are shown for Agriculture, Marine, Transport, Housing, Population, Skills, Environment, Climate Change, Economy, Digital, Health, Social Care, Culture and Social Justice.

The compilation of key trends in Rural Scotland will be used for a variety of purposes. One of these purposes is to establish baseline trend evidence to measure progress against the vision outlined in the Scottish Government's forthcoming Rural Delivery Plan.

Data was complied from for a variety of topic areas in order to highlight increasing or decreasing trends. The data is primarily gathered from published sources. Some bespoke data has been created where it was not already available for Rural Scotland. The geographic breakdown of the data allows a comparison between Rural Scotland and the rest (or all) of Scotland. Where possible, a separation has been made for mainland Rural Scotland and Island data.

The areas covered within the paper are:

  • Agriculture and Marine
  • Transport
  • Housing
  • Population and skills
  • Environment and climate change
  • Economy and Digital
  • Health and social care
  • Culture
  • Social justice

The Scottish Government will publish a Rural Delivery Plan by 2026. Key Performance Indicators will be chosen to monitor the Rural Delivery Plan outcomes.

You can access the paper at Trends in Rural Scotland: a working paper (2025) - gov.scot