Living Well in Scotland – Wellbeing Mapped

Our new interactive wellbeing map, drawn from our Life in the UK Index, offers a deeper insight into what matters to people across Scotland’s regions. Rooted in what over 1,000 people in Scotland tell us about their daily lives, the Index moves beyond traditional indicators to show how collective wellbeing is experienced across social, economic, environmental and democratic dimensions.

The political spotlight on economic metrics alone overlooks many of the conditions that enable people to live well.  While Scotland’s cities and urban areas play a vital role in national performance, the central belt regions – Glasgow, Central Scotland and Lothian – record the lowest collective wellbeing scores, showing that economic activity doesn’t automatically translate into a good life. While these regions perform broadly in line with the rest of Scotland on social and economic wellbeing, they fare markedly worse on democratic and environmental wellbeing.

As Scotland heads into a pivotal political year, the data paints a stark picture: democratic wellbeing is in crisis. Even in the West of Scotland, the highest scoring region, democratic wellbeing reaches only 45 out of 100. Only 13% of people in the area feel they have influence over Scottish government decisions, falling to 9% in the North East, where democratic wellbeing is seven points lower. At the UK government level, this drops to 6% in the West of Scotland and just 3% in the North East. Central and North East Scotland fare worst overall, driven by particularly low levels of trust in government. Around three in five people in both regions report low trust in the UK Government while around two in five express low trust in both Scottish government and their local councils.

With local elections approaching, we will be watching closely to see whether Scotland’s democratic wellbeing shifts when our 2026 Life in the UK results are published, following the annual survey in May.  

Environmental wellbeing shows a striking urban-rural divide across Scotland, with a 15-point gap between urban and rural areas – a pattern reflected in many parts of the UK. The Highlands and Islands lead the way with a score of 77 out of 100, while the central belt regions sit at the bottom reporting far more problems with environmental pollution – from noise and air quality to rubbish on the streets – compared with their rural counterparts. Almost nine in ten people in the Highlands and Islands (88%) were happy with the quality of their local green space compared with six in ten (60%) in Central Scotland. However, many rural communities contend with population decline and limited access to good quality work. These differences highlight how the places we live shape our daily experience of the environment and how unevenly those benefits are felt.

The findings underline a simple but powerful message: collective wellbeing depends not only on financial security, but also on whether people feel heard, supported and able to thrive in the places they call home.

Explore the interactive maps and discover further insights in our Life in the UK Scotland report.