Scotland’s Neighbours Are Still Trusted, but Fewer People Are Meeting Each Other

People across Scotland continue to express considerable trust in their neighbours, but the proportion meeting socially at least once a week has fallen to its lowest level in the comparisons published in the latest Scottish Household Survey.

The findings, released on 13 October 2026, show that 65% of adults met socially with friends, relatives, neighbours or work colleagues at least once a week in 2025. That compares with 68% in 2024 and 73% in 2018.

The figures suggest a longer-term change in the frequency of social contact, even as most people continue to regard their neighbourhoods as good places to live.

The survey also reveals considerable differences between Scotland’s local authority areas in reported neighbourly trust and loneliness.

In Na h-Eileanan Siar, 96% of respondents agreed that most people in their neighbourhood could be trusted. In Glasgow, the equivalent figure was 67%.

The results do not establish that every individual in one area has stronger personal relationships than someone elsewhere. They measure people’s responses to specific survey questions. Nevertheless, the geographical differences are substantial.

Scotland Still Has Confidence in Its Neighbours

Across the country, 94% of adults rated their neighbourhood as a very or fairly good place to live.

More than half, 55%, described it as a very good place to live, broadly consistent with the pattern recorded over many years.

The results suggest that Scotland’s general attachment to its local neighbourhoods has remained relatively stable.

Respondents were particularly positive about the people living around them.

Some 83% agreed that people in their neighbourhood were kind to each other, while 79% agreed that most neighbours could be trusted.

The ratings were less positive for physical facilities and opportunities to meet people.

The survey found a decline since 2024 in agreement that neighbourhoods offered welcoming places and opportunities to meet new people.

Feeling positively about neighbours does not necessarily mean people encounter one another regularly. Community relationships may remain broadly trusted even as opportunities for face-to-face contact become less frequent.

The Islands Record High Levels of Neighbourhood Trust

The Western Isles recorded the highest neighbourhood trust figure among Scotland’s 32 local authority areas, at 96%.

Orkney followed at 95%, while the Scottish Borders recorded 93% and Shetland and East Renfrewshire each recorded 92%.

Argyll and Bute was also among the areas reporting high trust, at 91%.

The pattern is not exclusively rural. East Renfrewshire, for example, recorded one of the highest figures despite being part of Scotland’s more urbanised central belt.

Conversely, there is considerable variation among larger towns and cities.

Edinburgh recorded 78%, Dundee 76%, Aberdeen 73% and Glasgow 67%.

North Lanarkshire recorded 70%, while West Dunbartonshire stood at 68%.

The figures describe reported trust rather than recorded crime or verified neighbourly behaviour. They should not be interpreted as a ranking of the character or conduct of people living in different areas.

Nor can they establish which particular local conditions explain the differences.

They do, however, offer a useful picture of how residents perceive their own communities.

Loneliness Does Not Follow a Simple Urban and Rural Divide

The survey also asked people whether they had felt lonely during the preceding week.

Across Scotland, 21% reported experiencing loneliness some, most or almost all of the time, broadly unchanged from 2024.

There were again substantial differences between council areas.

North Ayrshire recorded 30%, the highest published local authority figure, while Angus, East Ayrshire and West Lothian each recorded 28%.

The Scottish Borders recorded 26%, and East Lothian and Moray each recorded 25%.

At the other end of the range, Renfrewshire recorded 10%, while the Western Isles recorded 12%.

East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and Shetland each recorded 13%, and Orkney recorded 14%.

These figures show that loneliness is not confined to Scotland’s cities, nor absent from rural or island communities.

The Scottish Borders, for example, reported relatively high neighbourhood trust alongside a comparatively high proportion of adults experiencing loneliness.

That combination illustrates why trust in neighbours and personal social contact should not be treated as interchangeable measures.

A person can believe that neighbours are reliable and kind while still lacking regular companionship.

The survey does not establish the causes of loneliness within any individual council area.

Neighbourhood Trust and Loneliness Across Scotland’s 32 Councils

The table below provides the published 2025 figures for every Scottish local authority. Neighbourhood trust is the percentage agreeing that most people in their neighbourhood can be trusted. Loneliness represents those who experienced loneliness some, most or almost all of the time during the preceding week.

A Marked Difference Between More and Less Deprived Areas

The national results show one of their clearest divisions when neighbourhood ratings are examined by deprivation.

In the 20% least deprived areas of Scotland, 76% of adults described their neighbourhood as a very good place to live.

In the 20% most deprived areas, the equivalent figure was 30%.

That is a difference of 46 percentage points.

However, the broader measure of neighbourhood satisfaction remained considerably higher. When people describing their area as fairly good were included, 85% in the most deprived fifth still gave a positive rating.

The distinction is important: residents of more deprived communities were less likely to give the highest rating, but a substantial majority nevertheless considered their neighbourhood a good place to live.

The survey does not establish that deprivation alone explains the differences. Housing conditions, public spaces, environmental quality, local amenities and other circumstances may all influence how people assess where they live.

The findings establish a strong association between area deprivation and the likelihood of giving a neighbourhood the highest rating.

Litter and Animal Nuisance Remain Common Problems

The survey asked residents whether they had personally experienced neighbourhood problems during the preceding 12 months.

Some 57% reported at least one of the listed problems, unchanged from 2023.

Rubbish and litter were the most common, reported by 36% of adults.

Animal nuisance, including noise and dog fouling, was reported by 30%.

Experiences of animal nuisance had declined from 35% in 2023, while the reported prevalence of rubbish and litter remained stable.

Less common problems included abandoned or burnt-out vehicles, reported by 4%, and harassment by groups or individuals, reported by 5%.

These results add a practical dimension to neighbourhood satisfaction. Residents may have confidence in the people around them while remaining dissatisfied with aspects of their physical surroundings.

People Feel Safer, but Experiences Differ

Nationally, 80% of adults said they felt very or fairly safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark, compared with 78% in 2024.

However, the improvement was not experienced equally across the population.

Among men, 90% said they felt safe, compared with 71% of women.

The corresponding figures were 64% for disabled adults and 86% for non-disabled adults.

There was also a difference by deprivation: 67% of residents in the most deprived fifth of areas said they felt safe walking alone after dark, compared with 89% in the least deprived fifth.

The figures describe perceived safety rather than a direct measurement of recorded offending. Both measures are relevant to understanding the conditions in which people live, but they answer different questions.

A Changing Pattern of Community Life

The latest Scottish Household Survey presents a picture of a country in which local trust remains relatively strong, neighbourhood satisfaction is generally high, and most people continue to regard their communities positively.

At the same time, regular social meetings have become less common, more than one in five adults report experiencing loneliness, and substantial differences remain between places and population groups.

The findings do not establish why social contact has declined since 2018. Changes in working patterns, household circumstances, available amenities and personal preferences could all be relevant, but their relative contribution cannot be determined from these figures alone.

What the survey establishes is that confidence in one’s neighbours and frequent personal contact are not necessarily the same thing.

Scotland’s communities are still widely regarded as good places to live. The question raised by the latest findings is how often the people living in them now spend time together.

Sources

Scottish Household Survey 2025 Findings: Neighbourhoods and Communities — Scottish Government, 13 October 2026.

Detailed Tables Showing Neighbourhood Trust and Loneliness by Local Authority — Scottish Government, 13 October 2026.

Neighbourhood Problems — Scottish Government, 13 October 2026.

Neighbourhood Safety — Scottish Government, 13 October 2026.

Social Isolation and Loneliness — Scottish Government, 13 October 2026.