Technical Information: Society:
Our healthy environment supports a fairer, healthier, more inclusive society

Last updated: 11 January 2024

Visits to the outdoors

Indicator Updated: 11 January 2024

Year % Adults visiting outdoors each week (%)
2006 44.0
2007 44.0
2008 47.0
2009 46.0
2010 48.0
2011 46.0
2012 42.0
2013 46.2
2014 48.4
2015 48.6
2016 48.5
2017 52.4
2018 58.9
2019 56.0
2020 NA
2021 NA
2022 70.2

This National Statistics indicator uses data from the annual Scottish Household Survey and reports the proportion of adults making one or more visits to the outdoors per week.

The data for this indicator up to 2019 can be broken down by age, gender, urban/rural classification, self-perception of health, disability, ethnicity and religion. These breakdowns can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder. Breakdowns of the 2022 data are available in Scottish Household Survey 2022 supporting documents.

Source: Scottish Household Survey. The figures in the table up to 2019 are provided in the SHS Data Explorer.

Update Frequency: Annual

Further Information: Visits to the outdoors indicator information is available on the National Performance Framework website.

Please note that figures for 2020 were published 28/1/22 and figures for 2021 were published 25/4/23. The figures are available on the National Performance Framework where there are separate pages for the 2020 update and the 2021 update. However due to a change in how the data was collected because of Covid-19 restrictions, figures for 2020 and 2021 are not comparable with the figures for 2022, 2019 and earlier years and so they are not included in the table. Details on the reasons for the incomparability are available on the Scottish Household Survey website.




Access to green & blue space

Indicator Updated: 11 January 2024

Year % Adults with access to space (%)
2013 67.6
2014 68.6
2015 67.2
2016 65.4
2017 64.7
2018 65.3
2019 65.6
2020 NA
2021 NA
2022 69.6

This National Statistics indicator uses data from the annual Scottish Household Survey and reports the proportion of adults who live within a 5 minute walk of their local green or blue space.

Breakdowns of data up to 2019 by age, disability, ethnicity, gender, local authority, religion, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and urban/rural classification are available in the Scottish Household Survey Data Explorer. Breakdowns of the 2022 data are available in Scottish Household Survey 2022 supporting documents.

Source: Scottish Household Survey. The figures in the table up to 2019 are provided in the SHS Data Explorer.

Update Frequency: Annual

Further Information: Access to green and blue space indicator information is available on the National Performance Framework website.

Please note that figures for 2020 were published 28/1/22 and figures for 2021 were published 25/4/23. The figures are available on the National Performance Framework where there are separate pages for the 2020 update and the 2021 update. However due to a change in how the data was collected because of Covid-19 restrictions, figures for 2020 and 2021 are not comparable with the figures for 2022, 2019 and earlier years and so they are not included in the table. Details on the reasons for the incomparability are available on the Scottish Household Survey website.




Active travel

Indicator Updated: 04 November 2021

Walking

Year % of journeys made on foot (%)
2012 48.5
2013 47.3
2014 51.3
2015 45.1
2016 47.8
2017 45.3
2018 43.0
2019 47.6

Cycling

Year % of journeys made by bike (%)
2012 1.5
2013 1.2
2014 1.8
2015 1.5
2016 1.6
2017 1.8
2018 1.8
2019 1.7

This National Statistics indicator uses data from the annual Scottish Household Survey and reports the proportion of short journeys less than 2 miles that are made by walking and the proportion of journeys under 5 miles made by cycling.

This indicator can be broken down by gender age, Scottish index of Multiple Deprivation, ethnicity, religion and disability. These breakdowns can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder.

Source: Scottish Household Survey analysed and published by Transport Scotland. The figures in the table are taken from the report Transport and Travel in Scotland 2019.

Update Frequency: Annual

Further Information: Active travel indicator information is available on the National Performance Framework website.

Please note that figures for 2020 were published 28/1/22 and are available in the report Transport and Travel in Scotland 2020. However due to a change in how the data was collected because of Covid-19 restrictions, they are not comparable with the figures for earlier years and so they are not included in the table. Details on the reasons for the incomparability are available on the Scottish Household Survey website.