Scotland’s Census 2022 - Health, disability and unpaid care

An Accredited Official Statistics publication for Scotland

Published: 03 October 2024

Download the age-standardised data used in this report

Download the data used in our charts

Search census data tables

This report presents census data on health, disability and unpaid care. These statistics show how Scotland’s people, and their day to day lives, are changing. 

Health conditions 

The census asked if people had a health condition which had lasted or was expected to last more than twelve months. A list of conditions was presented along with descriptions. People were asked to tick all that apply.

The most common type of condition reported in the census was a ‘long-term illness, disease or condition’. This was described on the census form as a condition that you may have for life, that may be managed with treatment or medication, and is not in one of the other categories. This is a broad category that includes a range of conditions such as Arthritis, Cancer, Diabetes and Epilepsy. The census found that the percentage of people reporting a long-term illness, disease or condition increased from 18.7% in 2011 to 21.4% in 2022.

This question included tick boxes for learning disabilities, learning difficulties and developmental disorders. There were changes to how the list of conditions was presented on the census form in 2022. These changes had an impact on how people responded to the question, particularly for the learning disabilities, learning difficulties and developmental disorders categories. Please see our quality report for more information.

We are doing additional work on the data for those three categories and will provide an update at a later date. In the meantime we have published a combined measure. The combined measure counts everyone who ticked one or more of the three boxes.

The census found that the percentage of people reporting a learning disability, learning difficulty, or developmental disorder increased from 2.8% in 2011 to 5.2% in 2022.

For context, Scottish Government pupil census data shows that the percentage of school pupils who had an Additional Support Need (ASN) due to a condition included in the learning difficulty or developmental disorder categories in the census increased between 2010 and 2021.

For example, the percentage of pupils who had an ASN due to dyslexia increased from 1.3% in 2010 to 3.6% in 2021. The percentage who had an ASN due to an autistic spectrum disorder increased from 1.0% in 2010 to 3.4% in 2021. However, the percentage who had an ASN due to a learning disability was unchanged over the same period (1.7%).

The second most common condition reported in the census was a mental health condition. The census found that the percentage of people reporting a mental health condition increased from 4.4% in 2011 to 11.3% in 2022. This increase from 232,900 to 617,100 people was the largest increase across condition types.

The increase in the number of people reporting a mental health condition was driven by a large increase among younger people. In 2022 younger people were more likely to report a mental health condition than older people. In 2011 the reverse was true. The largest increases were in the 16 to 24 age group. In 2022 15.4% of 16 to 24 year olds reported a mental health condition, up from 2.5% in 2011. 

It is important to note that census data on health conditions is self-reported. Changes over time may reflect people’s understanding of their circumstances and their willingness to report their health condition, as well as changes in prevalence. Increases in demand for services may be partially driven by decreased stigma and more awareness about mental health and wellbeing (Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, 2023, Scottish Government). 

The census asked people if they had a mental health condition which had lasted or was expected to last more than twelve months. The question described this as a condition that affects your emotional, physical and mental wellbeing. Scottish Health Survey data shows decreases in general mental wellbeing that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. For specific conditions such as depression, anxiety and self-harm there were clear increases in reporting throughout the last decade (Scottish Health Survey 2022, Scottish Government).  

A See Me study noted that mental health inequalities in Scotland appear to have increased during the pandemic. Young adults and women were found to be at greater risk of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts (The Scottish Mental Illness Stigma Study, 2022, See Me). 

The census found that a higher percentage of females reported a mental health condition across all age groups in 2022. We saw a similar pattern in 2011. The biggest difference in 2022 was among 16 to 24 year olds where the percentage of females (20.4%) reporting a mental health condition was twice as high as males (10.5%). 

A Scottish Government evidence summary noted that: “The impact of the pandemic on the well-being of girls continued to be greater across the UK. In particular, older young girls reported more feelings of loneliness, sadness, anxiety, and worry.” (COVID-19: children, young people and families - evidence summary - June 2021, Scottish Government). 

However there is evidence of differences between males and females pre-pandemic with adolescent girls in Scotland reporting lower levels of wellbeing than boys (Exploring the reported worsening of mental wellbeing among adolescent girls in Scotland, 2019, Scottish Government). There is also evidence that historically men have been less likely than women to seek support when worried or feeling low (Get it off your chest: Men's mental health 10 years on, Mind). 

General health

Scotland’s Census asked “How is your health in general?”. In 2022 a total of 4,288,700 people said their health was good or very good. This is a decrease of 64,800 people from 2011.

A total of 377,700 people said their health was bad or very bad. This is an increase of 80,700 people since 2011. This is mostly driven by Scotland’s ageing population and the increase in older people since 2011. 

There is a strong link between age and general health. In a population with more older people, you would expect worse health. Figure 4 shows how the percentage of people reporting bad or very bad health increases as we move up through the age groups.

In 2022 there were around 328,600 more people aged 50 or over than in 2011. So there would be more people reporting bad or very bad health even if rates were unchanged. 

Figure 4 also shows that there were small increases in the percentage of people reporting bad or very bad health in most age groups. This means the overall increase in the percentage of people reporting bad or very bad health is not entirely due to the higher number of older people compared to 2011. 

We should take the strong link between age and health into account when making comparisons between populations. Especially when comparing populations with different sizes and age profiles such as council areas in Scotland.  

We can do this by calculating age-standardised percentages which take account of differences in age profile. We have published age-standardised percentages and an explanation of how these were calculated. 

After age-standardising, we find 6.8% of people in Scotland said their health was bad or very bad in 2022 compared to 5.9% in 2011. Comparable figures for England and Wales show 5.4% of people reported bad or very bad health in the 2021 census. In Northern Ireland it was 8.2% of people. 

Figure 5 shows how the age-standardised percentage of people reporting bad or very bad health varied across council areas. Glasgow City council area had the highest percentage of people reporting bad or very bad health (10.8%) after accounting for age. Most of the council areas next to Glasgow City also had relatively high percentages (between 7.4% and 9.1%). The two exceptions were East Dunbartonshire (5.0%) and East Renfrewshire (4.9%).