The UK countryside is home to substantial communities as well as farms, forests, peatlands and tourism destinations. Official figures show how rural life differs across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although the definitions and measurement periods are not fully harmonised.
Contents
- How many people live in the countryside?
- Age, housing and settlement patterns
- The rural economy, farming and land use
- Nature access, woodland and landscapes
- Connectivity, education and public services
- Countryside tourism and overnight travel
How many people live in the countryside?
England provides the clearest large-scale population picture, but it uses more than one rural measure. In mid-2024, 17% of England’s population lived in rural settlements. The 2021 Census recorded around 9.5 million people living in those rural settlements. These are settlement-based figures, so they describe where people live rather than treating every resident of a rural local authority as rural. Key findings, Statistical Digest of Rural England
An alternative local-authority measure classified 6.0 million people as living in majority-rural authorities in mid-2024, equivalent to 10% of England’s population. A further 7.2 million lived in intermediate-rural authorities, or 12%. Together, these two authority groups contained 13.2 million people, or 22% of England’s population. Digest of Rural England: 1 – Population
Distance from larger settlements also varies within majority-rural England. Of the 6.0 million residents in majority-rural authorities, 2.2 million lived in authorities where most people were more than a 30-minute drive from a major town or city. The remaining 3.8 million lived in authorities where most people were within a 30-minute drive. This distinction matters: “rural” does not always mean remote. Digest of Rural England: 1 – Population
The majority-rural authority population rose from 5.5 million in mid-2014 to 6.0 million in mid-2024, an overall increase of 9%. Scotland’s published figures use different categories: in 2021, 12% of the population lived in accessible rural areas and 5% lived in remote rural areas. A separate strategy baseline states that Scotland’s rural population was 930,000, or 17% of the national population. That 17% figure is a strategy-baseline statement, not a single common UK census measure. Scotland’s Fourth Land Use Strategy: 2026–2031 – Land use data, and monitoring and evaluation
Northern Ireland’s 2021 Census counted 738,007 people in non-urban areas, equal to 39% of the population, compared with 1,165,168 people in urban areas, or 61%. Northern Ireland’s non-urban category comes from NISRA settlement classifications and should not be read as a directly harmonised UK-wide rural total. Statistical Review of Northern Ireland Agriculture 2023
Age, housing and settlement patterns
Rural populations in England tend to be older. In mid-2024, 27% of residents of rural settlements were aged 65 or over. The corresponding share in majority-rural authorities was 26%. The two measures are close, but their geographies differ, so they should not be combined into one estimate. Key findings, Statistical Digest of Rural England
Housing patterns add another dimension to countryside statistics. In the latest rural digest housing measure, published in the 2026 release, more than 2% of homes in England’s majority-rural authorities were second homes—twice the national average. Around 2% of homes were empty in both majority-rural and urban authorities. The second-home figure is therefore a distinct rural housing characteristic, while the reported empty-home rate was similar in the two authority types. Key findings, Statistical Digest of Rural England
New residential addresses were also being added at a higher rate per person in rural areas. In 2021/22, England had almost twice as many new residential addresses per person in rural areas as in urban areas. This is a rate comparison, not a claim that rural areas added twice as many total homes. Key findings, Statistical Digest of Rural England
The rural economy, farming and land use
England’s rural economy generated £259 billion of gross value added in 2023, equivalent to 12% of England’s total GVA. Rural areas contained 526,200 registered businesses in 2023/24, representing 22% of all registered businesses. These figures show that the countryside is an important business environment, not only an agricultural setting. Key findings, Statistical Digest of Rural England
Agriculture, forestry and fishing made up 14% of businesses in England’s rural areas in 2023/24 and accounted for 8% of rural employment. Education, health and social work accounted for 16% of employment, making that combined sector a larger source of rural jobs than agriculture, forestry and fishing. The business share and employment share measure different things and should not be treated as interchangeable. Key findings, Statistical Digest of Rural England
Scotland’s land-use figures illustrate the scale of rural production and managed landscapes. Agriculture covered approximately 5.16 million hectares, or 66% of Scotland’s land area. Rough grazing accounted for 52% of Scotland’s agricultural land. Scotland’s agriculture produced £3.45 billion of total agricultural output in 2020, while forestry and related activities contributed £1.1 billion of gross value added in 2019. Scotland’s Fourth Land Use Strategy: 2026–2031 – Land use data, and monitoring and evaluation
Scotland had more than 1.5 million hectares of forests and woodlands. About 500,000 hectares were publicly owned as part of the National Forest Estate, while more than 1 million hectares were privately owned. Mainly rural areas accounted for 29% of modern apprenticeship starts in 2022/23. Scotland’s Fourth Land Use Strategy: 2026–2031 – Land use data, and monitoring and evaluation
Wales remains strongly agricultural in land use. More than 90% of its land area was devoted to farming in June 2024. The same survey recorded 8.7 million sheep and lambs, 1.09 million cattle and calves, and 107,800 hectares of arable crops. These are June 2024 livestock and land-use measurements, not year-round totals. Survey of agriculture and horticulture: June 2024
| Indicator | Figure | Period or scope |
|---|---|---|
| England rural GVA | £259 billion | 2023 |
| England rural registered businesses | 526,200 | 2023/24 |
| Scotland agricultural land | 5.16 million hectares | Strategy baseline, published 2026 |
| Wales sheep and lambs | 8.7 million | June 2024 |
| Wales cattle and calves | 1.09 million | June 2024 |
Nature access, woodland and landscapes
The latest official model for England found that 80% of households had access to at least one green or blue space within a 15-minute walk. The modelled figure was 91% for rural households and 78% for urban households. This is an official statistic in development and reports modelled household access, so it is not the same as a survey of every household’s actual use of green space. Access to green and blue space in England
The English access measures use different size and distance standards. Neighbourhood-standard access means a green space of at least 10 hectares within a 1-kilometre walk; 76% of English households met this standard. Local-standard access means at least 2 hectares within a 300-metre walk, met by 14% of households. Doorstep-standard access means at least 0.5 hectares within a 200-metre walk, met by 16%. These categories can overlap, so their percentages should not be added. Access to green and blue space in England
Scotland’s landscapes include a major carbon store. Around 2 million hectares of peatland were estimated to store 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon. Community ownership covered 2.7% of Scotland’s land in 2022. These figures describe different aspects of land: one concerns peatland storage, while the other measures land under community ownership. Scotland’s Fourth Land Use Strategy: 2026–2031 – Land use data, and monitoring and evaluation
Connectivity, education and public services
Digital access in rural Northern Ireland improved to a high level by 2023: superfast broadband was available to 93% of rural residential premises. Physical access remained more varied. In 2020, 60% of rural residents lived within a 20-minute drive of a medium or larger settlement, while 63% lived within an hour’s drive of Belfast. Statistical Review of Northern Ireland Agriculture 2023
Education outcomes also differed by settlement type in the available Northern Ireland measure. In 2021/22, 48% of rural school leavers entered higher education, compared with 41% of urban school leavers. The rural figure was therefore higher in that year, although the statistic describes destinations of school leavers rather than the full adult education system. Statistical Review of Northern Ireland Agriculture 2023
Service response times can be a challenge in less densely settled places. Average rural ambulance waiting times in Northern Ireland exceeded 30 minutes in 2023. Over a longer period, Northern Ireland’s rural population grew by 19% between 2001 and 2020, while its mixed urban/rural population grew by 32%. Those growth measures use the published Northern Ireland categories and period. Statistical Review of Northern Ireland Agriculture 2023
Countryside tourism and overnight travel
GB residents took 7.61 million overnight trips in Wales in 2024. These trips generated 22.30 million nights and £2.24 billion in spending. The average trip lasted 2.9 nights, and average spending per overnight trip was £295. Wales tourism figures count individual reported trips, so a travel party of two counts as two trips. Domestic GB tourism statistics (overnight trips in Wales): 2024
Holiday travel represented 38% of overnight trips to Wales in 2024. Visits to friends and relatives accounted for 34%, business trips for 7%, and miscellaneous or other purposes for 22%. The categories describe the purpose of reported trips and provide a more useful picture than treating every overnight visit as a conventional holiday. Domestic GB tourism statistics (overnight trips in Wales): 2024
The year-on-year picture was mixed. The number of overnight trips to Wales was 10% lower in 2024 than in 2023, while expenditure was 11% higher. The trip count and spending measure therefore moved in opposite directions over this comparison period. Domestic GB tourism statistics (overnight trips in Wales): 2024