Scotland's profile of volunteering

Latest findings from the Scottish Household Survey (2017)

Formal volunteering - helping groups and organisations

28% of adults in Scotland - that's over 1.26 million people - have volunteered formally through an organisation or group in the last year. This figure has remained relatively stable for the last 10 years.

Adults Base: All = 9,810 Women = 5,270 Men = 4,540

In 2016, formal volunteers in Scotland contributed:

(a) Numbers have been rounded to the nearest half a million (500,000)
(b) Numbers have been rounded to the nearest million (1,000,000)

Note: Data on the economic value of volunteering is not available for 2017. This data is only available on a 2 year basis.

Scottish Household Survey Data: Due to the small sample sizes for each local authority there can be large variability in SHS volunteering data year-on-year. Care should therefore be taken in the use and interpretation of participation rates, hours’ volunteered and economic values.