Attendance at cultural events or places of culture
Latest update: 08 May 2024
Percentage of adults who have attended or visited a cultural event or place in the last 12 months. Find out more about this indicator.
Data from the 2022 Scottish Household Survey (SHS) indicates that 73.5% of adults in Scotland had had attended or visited a cultural event or place of culture in the last 12 months.
Data Breakdowns
This indicator can be broken down by age, gender, disability, ethnicity, religion, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, and urban/rural location in the drop down menus below.
This indicator can also be broken down by highest level of qualification and local authority. This breakdown can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder and is below.
- In 2022, around 74% in Scotland attended a cultural event or place. Although levels of cultural attendance varied between Local Authorities. East Renfrewshire had the highest percentage of adults who attended a cultural event or place of culture in 2022 (87%). The percentage of adults who attended a cultural event or place in 2022 was lowest in Na h-Eileanan Siar (46 per cent).
- In 2022, cultural attendance was higher among households with greater net annual household income. 87% of those with a net annual household income of over £30,000 had attended or visited a cultural event or place in the last 12 months, compared to 54% of respondents with a net annual household income of between £0 and £10,000.
- In 2022, 84% of adults in employment attended a cultural event or place. This compares to 56% of those permanently retired from work and 62% of those with ‘Other’ economic status.
- In 2022, cultural attendance was higher for adults with degrees or professional qualifications. 88% of adults with a degree or professional qualification had attended or visited a cultural event or place. 40% of those with no qualifications attended a cultural event or place in 2022.
Important Information
Data from the 2022 Scottish Household Survey (SHS) indicates that 73.5% of adults in Scotland had had attended or visited a cultural event or place of culture in the last 12 months.
Please also note when we refer to the attendance at cultural events or places of culture indicator figure and demographic breakdowns we are referring to attendance including cinema (the most common cultural event to attend in the last 12 months).
The data collection period for the 2022 SHS was from 11 March 2022 to 6 March 2023 and participants were reflecting on their attendance over the last 12 months from the point of being asked these questions (March 2021 to March 2022). COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on Scotland’s cultural life. Measures to reduce exposure to COVID-19 included limits on large gatherings, closure of venues, and cancellation of productions or programmes and large-scale cultural events. This has had a dramatic effect on how people attend in culture since March 2020. Therefore, this should be taken into account when comparing 2022 and 2019 data.
Please note that the results of the SHS 2022 survey are not directly comparable to SHS results for 2021 and 2020 telephone surveys. Results of the SHS 2022 survey have therefore been compared to the 2019 SHS survey.
Performance Worsening
Attendance at cultural events or places of culture also varied by age. In 2022, 85% of adults aged 16 to 24 had attended a cultural event or place of culture, compare to 44% of adults aged 75 or over.
In 2022, cultural attendance was broadly similar between women and men.
73% of women had attended or visited a cultural event or place compared to 74% of men.
Only 56% of disabled adults had attended a cultural event or place of culture, compared to 80% of non-disabled adults.
In 2022, 77% of adults from an ‘Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British’ ethnic background and 76% of adults from a ‘White Other’ background attended cultural events or places in the last 12 months. This compares with 73% of adults from a ‘White Scottish’ background and 68% of adults from a ‘Other ethnic’ background.
In 2022, 76% of adults who said they followed ‘no religion’ attended a cultural event or place. This compares to 75% ‘Roman Catholic’, 67% of ‘Church of Scotland’ and ‘Other Christian’ religions and 69% of adults ‘Another religion’.
In 2022, cultural attendance was higher among gay, lesbian or bisexual adults.
89% of gay, lesbian or bisexual adults had visited a cultural place or attended a cultural event compared with 73% of heterosexual / straight adults.
In 2022, 77% of single adults and 76% of those who are married or in a civil partnership attended a cultural event or place. This compares to 65% of adults who are divorced or separated and 48% of widowed adults.
In 2022, rates of cultural attendance were highest among those living in the ‘least deprived’ areas as measured by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). 86% of adults living in the 20% least deprived areas had attended a cultural event or place of culture, compared to 61% of adults living in the 20% most deprived areas.
In 2022, 79% of those living in ‘remote small towns’ attended a cultural event or place of culture. This compares to 77% of those in ‘large urban areas’, 73% in ‘other urban areas’, 72% in ‘accessible rural’ and ‘accessible small towns’ and 60% in ‘remote rural’ areas.
Growth in the arts, culture and creative economy
Latest Update: 08 May 2024
Approximate GVA in the Arts, Culture and Creative sector was estimated at £4,511 million in 2021, a decrease of £51 million (-1.1%) in real terms from 2020. Find out more about this indicator.
Over the longer term, approximate GVA in the Arts, Culture and Creative sector has increased by £997 million (28%) in real terms since 2010. The increase since 2010 has primarily been driven by the Digital Industries sub-sector.
Most sub-sectors experienced an increase in approximate GVA between 2020 and 2021, however approximate GVA in the Digital Industries sub-sector fell by 13% which impacted the overall GVA reduction of the sector. Note, several sub-sectors were still experiencing the effects of the pandemic in 2021.
Data Breakdowns
This indicator can also be broken down by Local Authority and Cultural domain, . These breakdowns can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder and are noted below.
- The local authority areas with the largest contribution to approximate GVA within the Arts, Culture and Creative sector in 2021 were City of Edinburgh (31%), followed by Glasgow City (21%) and West Lothian (5%).
- City of Edinburgh experienced the largest decline in real GVA between 2020 and 2021, a decrease of £111 million (-7%). Glasgow City experienced the largest increase in real GVA over this period, an increase of £95 million (11%).
- The largest contribution to approximate GVA within the Arts, Culture and Creative sector in 2021 came from Digital Industries sub-sector (49%), followed by Visual Arts (32%).
- Most sub-sectors, including Visual Arts, Performance, Books & Press and Audio-Visual experienced an increase in approximate real GVA between 2020 and 2021. The exception was GVA in the Digital Industries sub-sector which fell by 13% which impacted the overall GVA reduction of the sector. Note, some of the sub-sectors have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Performance Maintaining
Participation in a cultural activity
Latest update: 08 May 2024
Data from the 2022 Scottish Household Survey (SHS) indicates that 74.8% of adults in Scotland had had participated in some form of cultural activity in the last 12 months.
The data collection period for the 2022 SHS was from 11 March 2022 to 6 March 2023 and participants were reflecting on their participation over the last 12 months from the point of being asked these questions (March 2021 to March 2022). COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on Scotland’s cultural life. Measures to reduce exposure to COVID-19 included limits on large gatherings, closure of venues, and cancellation of productions or programmes and large-scale cultural events. This has had a dramatic effect on how people participate in culture since March 2020. Therefore, this should be taken into account when comparing 2022 and 2019 data.
Data Breakdowns
This indicator can be broken down by age, gender, disability, ethnicity, religion, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, and urban/rural location in the drop down menus below.
This indicator can also be broken down by highest level of qualification, level of income, economic status and Local Authority. These breakdowns can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder and is below.
- Three-quarters (75%) of adults participated in some form of cultural activity in Scotland in 2022. However, levels of cultural participation vary between Local Authorities.
- The local authority with the highest percentage of adults who participated in cultural activities in 2022 was Perth and Kinross (92 per cent) followed by Shetland Islands (88 per cent). The percentage of adults who participated in a cultural activity in 2022 was lowest in Angus (58%) and Glasgow (64 per cent).
- In 2022, participation in cultural activities decreased with level of qualifications. Cultural participation was highest among adults with a degree or professional qualification (88%) and lowest for those with ‘other’ qualifications (53%) and no qualifications (54%).
- In 2022, 77% of adults who are permanently retired from work and 76% of adults in employment participated in a cultural activity. This compares to 67% of adults who said ‘Other’.
- In 2022, cultural participation was higher for households with a larger household income. 69% of adults with a net annual household income up to £10,000 participated in a cultural activity, compared to 80% of those with a net annual household income of over £30,000.
Important Information
Please note that the results of the SHS 2022 survey are not directly comparable to SHS results for 2021 and 2020 telephone surveys. Results of the SHS 2022 survey have therefore been compared to the 2019 SHS survey. 2020 and 2021 data is available here.
Performance Maintaining
In 2022, overall cultural participation was broadly similar for all age groups.
In 2022, cultural participation was higher for women than men.
80% of women had participated in a cultural activity, in the last year, compared to 70% of men , though this varied by activity.
In 2022, cultural participation was higher for adults reporting not to have a disability compared to those that reported having disability (76% and 72% respectively).
In 2022, 82% of adults from a ‘White Other’ ethnic background participated in a cultural activity in the last 12 months. This compares to 74% of ‘Other Ethnic’ and ‘Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British’ adults and 73% of ‘White Scottish’ adults.
In 2022, 86% of ‘Other Christians’ participated in a cultural activity. This compares to 78% of ‘Church of Scotland’, 77% of ‘Another Religion’ , 75% of ‘Roman Catholic’ and 73% who adults who didn’t follow any religion.
In 2022, cultural participation was higher for gay, lesbian or bisexual adults.
87% of gay, lesbian or bisexual adults participated in a cultural activity in the 12 last months, compared to 74% of heterosexual / straight adults.
In 2022, cultural participation across various marital statuses is broadly similar.
Adults living in the 20% most deprived areas were less likely to have participated in a cultural activity (64%) than those living in the 20% least deprived areas (82%).
In 2022, 83% of adults in ‘remote small towns’ participated in culture this compares with 80% in ‘accessible rural’, 75% in ‘accessible small towns’, 74% in ‘other urban areas’, 73% in ‘large urban areas’ and 72% in ‘remote rural’.
People working in arts, culture and creative industries
Latest Update: 07 July 2023
The number of jobs in the Creative Industries Growth Sector (culture and arts). Find out more about this indicator.
In 2022, employment in Scotland’s arts, culture and creative industries sector was 155,000, down by 10,000 (5.9%) on 2021.
The decrease over the latest year was driven by a fall in jobs in the Heritage and Digital Industries sub-sectors.
Data Breakdowns
This indicator can be broken down by age, gender, disability, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, and urban/rural location in the drop down menus below the charts.
This indicator can also be broken down by cultural domain. This breakdown can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder and trends are noted below.
- In 2022, 49,000 people aged 16 and over were employed in the Digital Industries sub-sector, representing 31.9% of total employment in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector. 44,000 were employed in Visual Arts (28.6%), 29,000 were employed in Audio-Visual (18.5%), 15,000 were employed in Books and Press (9.6%), and 6,000 were employed in Heritage (3.7%).
- All sub-sectors, with the exception of Visual Arts and Audio-Visual, experienced a decrease in employment between 2021 and 2022. The Visual Arts sub-sector increased by 3.2% (1,000) and the Audio Visual sub-sector, increased by 18.5% (4,000 people). Estimates for Performance and Cultural education are based on small sample sizes and have been omitted.
- In 2022, there were 25,000 people aged 16 and over employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector in Rural Scotland. This accounts for 16.4% of people employed in these industries. Over the year, there was an increase of 4,000 people employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector in Rural Scotland. This contrasts with the rest of Scotland where there was a decrease of 14,000 between 2021 and 2022.
Important Information
Annual employment estimates rounded to the nearest 1,000. Performance assessment of annual change is based on unrounded estimates.
Estimates by local authority and ethnicity have been omitted as the disaggregation of most local authorities and minority ethnic groups are unreliable due to small sample sizes.
Performance Maintaining
Employment varied by age group in 2022 with younger age groups (16 to 24 and 25 to 34) accounting for over 40% of people employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector (17,000 and 48,000 people respectively). The age group with the largest number of people employed in the sector was 35 to 49 year olds (50,000 people) and was also the age group to see the largest decrease over the year (down 13,000 between 2021 and 2022).
More men aged 16 and over were employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector than women in 2022 (95,000 compared to 60,000). Compared with 2021, the number of men employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector decreased by 16,000 people whereas the number of women increased by 7,000.
There were an estimated 25,000 disabled people aged 16 to 64 working in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector in 2022. This is 3,000 more than in 2021. Disabled people represent 16.8% of people aged 16 to 64 employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector, an increase of 2.8 percentage points since 2021 (14.0%).
In 2022, the vast majority of people aged 16 and over in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector had no religion (69.2%). This was the same proportion as in 2021. Of the remaining people, 36,000 were Christian and 11,000 followed another religion (23.4% and 7.4% respectively).
Over half of all people aged 16 and over employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector are from the 40% least deprived areas in Scotland (41,000 in quintile 4 and 39,000 in quintile 5). In contrast, 14.0% of people employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector are from the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland (22,000 in quintile 1). Since 2021, there has been a decrease in the number of people employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector in the most deprived areas (down 6,000 in quintile 1, down 1,000 in quintile 2, down 5,000 in quintile 3). There has been an increase in quintile 4 of 2,000 people, and the least deprived 20% (quintile 5) has remained unchanged.
In 2022, there were 25,000 people aged 16 and over employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector in Rural Scotland. This accounts for 16.4% of people employed in these industries. Over the year, there was an increase of 4,000 people employed in the Arts, culture and creative industries sector in Rural Scotland. This contrasts with the rest of Scotland where there was a decrease of 14,000 between 2021 and 2022.