Rural Estates Drive Wellbeing

Scotland’s 1,125 rural estates cover about 4.1 million hectares, or around 57% of Scotland’s rural land. Those within the sector know how valuable it is. Outwith the sector this contribution is much less widely understood.

A “Ground Breaking” Approach

Last year BiGGAR Economics was commissioned to help address this. Tasked by Scottish Land and Estates to assess the sector’s contribution to Scotland’s wellbeing economy we set out to answer two questions:

How much do rural estates contribute to current wellbeing?
How do rural estates help maintain the conditions needed to support the wellbeing of future generations?

To do this we used the national performance framework, Scotland’s holistic model for monitoring national wellbeing. This is the first time (to our knowledge) the Framework has been applied in this way. The “ground breaking” results were published on Monday.

Overall the research showed that the sector makes a substantial contribution to Scotland’s wellbeing economy. It makes a significant contribution to 7 of Scotland’s 11 national outcomes and adds substantial value to the country’s stocks of economic, human, social and (especially) natural capital.

But within this is a complex story. A story about a sector that plays not one but several roles in Scotland’s wellbeing economy. Rural estates are important engines of the rural economy, gateways to and stewards of our natural environment, place makers and community anchors.

A Complex and Multi-Dimensional Story

We found that rural estates generate £2.4 billion GVA/year for the Scottish economy and support more than 56,000 jobs. We also estimated that around 80% of these jobs are in rural areas, implying that rural estates support around 1 in 10 of all rural jobs.

Rural estates support 1 in 10 rural jobs in Scotland

But the contribution of rural estates is much wider than the economic activity they support. Rural estates also play a vital role in sustaining local communities. They do this in many ways. Two of the most important are by providing homes for people to live in and land for businesses to operate on.

All together we estimated that rural estates provide homes for around 13,000 families across Scotland, enabling people to live in areas where housing options would otherwise be limited. We also found that rural estates lease land to around 14,000 crofters and farmers, enterprises that form the backbone of many Scottish communities.

Rural estates provide homes for around 13,000 Scottish families and land for around 14,000 rural enterprises

However, the biggest contribution estates make to Scotland’s wellbeing economy is through their efforts to protect and enhance our natural environment. Using official data on the value of Scotland’s natural capital we estimated that rural estates account for 17% of Scotland’s natural capital asset base with a combined value of around £35 billion.

Why this Matters

Our analysis shows that rural estates make a substantial contribution to Scotland’s wellbeing economy. But Scottish Land and Estates didn’t just want to understand this contribution, they also wanted to know how to increase it.

To help with this we were also invited to develop guidance setting out practical steps estates could take to increase their impact. This guidance has now been published alongside our main report.

This matters. The aspiration to create a wellbeing economy is a worthy one but not something the Scottish Government can achieve by its self. Rural estates have huge potential to help with this and our report helps to articulate how.

We believe rural estates are the first sector in Scotland to assess its contribution in this way. We hope it won’t be the last.

Rural Estates Drive Wellbeing

A “Ground Breaking” Approach

A Complex and Multi-Dimensional Story

Why this Matters

Further Reading