Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

SIMD

Overview

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation identifies small area concentrations of multiple deprivation across all of Scotland in a consistent way. It allows effective targeting of policies and funding where the aim is to wholly or partly tackle or take account of area concentrations of multiple deprivation.

SIMD Homepage Dual Wrapper

Important News

The next full update to the SIMD will be published in November 2012.

This decision is based on responses to the recent SIMD consultation. We have published a full summary of responses along with details of actions we are planning to take as a result.

The second set of annual updates to the income domain have been published. They can be found in the annual updates section of the website.

The first annual update to the income domain has been revised. The revision does not affect the annual update to the employment domain and does not affect SIMD 2009. More details can be found in the annual updates section of the website.

All the News



Measuring Deprivation Advisory Group

The Measuring Deprivation Advisory Group (MDAG) is made up of a combination of data suppliers and users of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. The group provides advice on issues such as the needs of users; development priorities; methodological options; quality of outputs; and dissemination and guidance on the use of outputs. The ScotStat section of our website provides meeting papers and more information on the group's remit.

How to use SIMD

SIMD 2006 - Interactive MappingThe SIMD provides a wealth of information to help improve the understanding about the outcomes and circumstances of people living in the most deprived areas in Scotland.

The key pages to help you are:

  • Guidance and Analysis Guidance and analysis papers giving examples of how the SIMD can be used.
  • Background Data and Tools The data used to construct the SIMD domains and overall SIMD, including: ranks and scores for each domain along with relevant population denominators.
  • Interactive Mapping An interactive mapping tool which can be used to identify Scotland's most deprived areas and their location within each local authority area;
  • Background and Methodology Information on the background, methodology and development of the SIMD;
  • Interactive guidance This powerpoint slideshow uses screenshots and animation to show you how to find the rank of the datazone containing a postcode of interest;
  • Publications A general report with summary analysis is published on the website, while comprehensive information on the domains, indicators and methodology used in the SIMD can be found in the technical report;
  • FAQs Frequently Asked Questions explaining how to make best use of the SIMD.

The SIMD is presented at data zone level, enabling small pockets of deprivation to be identified. The data zones, which have a median population size of 769, are ranked from most deprived (1) to least deprived (6,505) on the overall SIMD and on each of the individual domains. The result is a comprehensive picture of relative area deprivation across Scotland.

You can also use the Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics website to carry out more detailed analysis of the SIMD through comparison of the results with a range of socio-economic indicators.

Page updated: Thursday, November 17, 2011