The Scottish Government has published a 2012 update of the Scottish Index Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). The SIMD takes into account indicators across seven domains including health, housing and crime to rank over 6500 community areas (datazones) in Scotland from most deprived to least deprived.
The SIMD 2012 identified the Ferguslie neighbourhood in Paisley as being the most deprived area in Scotland, while Craiglockart in Edinburgh is the least deprived.
Speaking after the statistics were released, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “The regeneration of our deprived and disadvantaged communities is a key priority for this government. It is absolutely imperative that the most vulnerable members of society are protected and cared for during these tough economic times.”
Some of the key SIMD 2012 findings are:
-
In SIMD 2004, nearly half of all datazones in the most deprived 10% across Scotland were in Glasgow City. In SIMD 2012 this has dropped to just over one third, with corresponding rises in other local authorities.
-
Glasgow City, Edinburgh City, West Lothian, Aberdeen City and South Lanarkshire have seen relatively large decreases in their share of datazones in the 15% most deprived areas in Scotland between SIMD 2009 and SIMD 2012.
-
North Lanarkshire, Fife, Renfrewshire and East Ayrshire have seen relatively large increases in their share of datazones in the 15% most deprived areas in Scotland between SIMD 2009 and SIMD 2012.
-
Eilean Siar, Moray, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands do not have any datazones in the 15% most deprived in the SIMD 2012.
The SIMD 2012 publication – and related resources including interactive mapping and regional summary reports – is available at a dedicated Scottish Government web portal.
