Technical Information: Society: Our healthy environment supports a fairer, healthier, more inclusive society
Last updated: 17 January 2025
Visits to the outdoors
Last Updated: 11 January 2024
| Year | Percentage of 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
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
Last Updated: 11 January 2024
| Year | Percentage of adults with access to green or blue 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 the 2022 data are available in Scottish Household Survey 2022 supporting documents.
Source: Scottish Household Survey
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
Last Updated: 04 November 2021
| Year | Walking | Cycling |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 48.5 | 1.5 |
| 2013 | 47.3 | 1.2 |
| 2014 | 51.3 | 1.8 |
| 2015 | 45.1 | 1.5 |
| 2016 | 47.8 | 1.6 |
| 2017 | 45.3 | 1.8 |
| 2018 | 43.0 | 1.8 |
| 2019 | 47.6 | 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 age, ethnicity, gender and socio-economic status. These breakdowns can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder.
Source: Scottish Household Survey - analysed and published by Transport Scotland
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.