# Share of neighbourhoods in Scotland's most deprived 20%

The share of each council's neighbourhoods (2011 data zones) that are among the most deprived 20% of neighbourhoods in Scotland, worked out by Open Index from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 deciles.

Worked out by Open Index from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 deciles.

## Facts

- Published by: Scottish Government
- Level of detail: Council
- Updates: Every few years
- History: Since 2020
- Licence: Open Government Licence 3.0
- Method: Worked out by Open Index from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 deciles
- Levels: Council

## How it is worked out

The number of a council's 2011 data zones in deciles 1 and 2 of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2, divided by all its data zones. Deciles 1 and 2 are the 1,395 data zones ranked 1 to 1,395 of 6,976, the most deprived 20%. The Scottish Government calls this share a council's local share. Each data zone is counted in the council the Scottish Government names for it, and every council's count matches the Scottish Government's own local share figures.

## Periods

| Level | First | Latest | Periods |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Council | 2020 | 2020 | 1 |

## Coverage

| Nation | Areas | With a figure |
| --- | --- | --- |
| England | 296 | 0 |
| Wales | 22 | 0 |
| Scotland | 32 | 32 |
| Northern Ireland | 11 | 0 |

England measures deprivation its own way. See the English Indices of Deprivation 2025.

Wales measures deprivation its own way. See the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025.

Northern Ireland measures deprivation its own way. See the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017.

## Gaps

- England measures deprivation its own way. See the English Indices of Deprivation 2025: 296 (Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Halton)
- Wales measures deprivation its own way. See the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025: 22 (Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham)
- Northern Ireland measures deprivation its own way. See the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017: 11 (Antrim and Newtownabbey, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Belfast, Causeway Coast and Glens, Derry City and Strabane, Fermanagh and Omagh)

## Caveats

- This is the share of a council's neighbourhoods that are in deciles 1 and 2 of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, the most deprived 20% of neighbourhoods in Scotland. The Scottish Government calls it the local share. It shows where the most deprived neighbourhoods are, not how deprived the council is overall.
- Open Index counts each council's neighbourhoods from the Scottish Government's published ranks and its rank to decile table. The counts match the Scottish Government's own local share figures for every council.
- A share of zero means none of the council's neighbourhoods are in the most deprived 20%. It does not mean nobody there is deprived.
- The neighbourhoods are the 6,976 data zones of 2011 that SIMD 2020 uses, not the 2022 data zones used for other Scottish figures. Each is counted in the council the Scottish Government names for it.
- The indices describe areas, not people. Many people who are not deprived live in deprived neighbourhoods, and many deprived people live in neighbourhoods that are not.
- England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each measure deprivation their own way, so Open Index never ranks or compares them together.

## Example: Glasgow

45.4% of the neighbourhoods in Glasgow are among the most deprived 20% of neighbourhoods in Scotland.
Among councils in Scotland, that is the highest of 32.
Worked out by Open Index from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 deciles.

https://openindex.co.uk/glasgow

## Sources

### Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2

- Publisher: Scottish Government
- Licence: [Open Government Licence 3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/)
- Edition: SIMD 2020v2 ranks + SIMD rank to decile table
- Published: 27 April 2020
- Fetched: 15 October 2026
- Updates: irregular
- Credit: Source: Scottish Government, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2. Crown copyright. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Publisher's page: https://www.gov.scot/collections/scottish-index-of-multiple-deprivation-2020/

## Use it

- [The map](https://openindex.co.uk/map/most-deprived-20-scotland)
- [Ranking](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/most-deprived-20-scotland/scotland)
- Download (Council): https://data.openindex.co.uk/s/2026.10.10/downloads/layers/simd-2020-most-deprived-20-share/council.csv
- API: https://openindex.co.uk/v1/layers/simd-2020-most-deprived-20-share

## How to cite

Source: Open Index, openindex.co.uk. Link to this page, https://openindex.co.uk/sources/most-deprived-20-scotland.

Open Index's own text and the figures it works out are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source data keeps its publishers' licences, named with each figure. Give each figure's period and source with it.

- Source: Scottish Government, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2. Crown copyright. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Worked out by Open Index from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 deciles.

Snapshot 2026.10.10. The HTML page: https://openindex.co.uk/sources/most-deprived-20-scotland