Publication - Statistics
Children’s Social Work Statistics: Child Protection 2023-24
Child Protection Statistics for Scotland for 2023-24 that cover data on children subject to child protection processes.
Please note that the Publication Tables and Additional Tables Excel documents were revised on 8 April 2025. See Contents pages for detail of tables subject to revision.
Please note that Table 1.5 was revised on 10 June 2025. This was to include the 2024 figures in the table, as shown in the Publication Tables Excel document.
Key points
- On 31 July 2024, 2,129 children were on the child protection register, representing a 3% increase on 2023 (2,077) and a 26% decrease on 2014 (2,877).
- During the year, 3,167 children were registered onto the child protection register, representing a 2% decrease on 2022-23 (3,234) and a 31% decrease on 2013-14 (4,622).
- Around half (48%) of children added to the child protection register in 2023-24 lived in one of the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland. This compares to 3% in the 20% least deprived areas in Scotland.
- The most common concerns identified at child protection planning meetings for children registered during the year were domestic abuse (45% of children registered), neglect (42% of children registered), parental substance use (39% of children registered), parental mental ill health (37% of children registered), and emotional abuse (33% of children registered).
- 3,117 children were de-registered from the child protection register in 2023-24. This is a decrease of 2% compared to 2022-23 and a 29% decrease since 2013-14.
- Of the children being de-registered, around half (48%) had been on the register for less than 6 months.
- During 2023-24, 237 care and risk management meetings were recorded. The concerns noted most often were violence (51% of children), substance use (28% of children), harmful sexual behaviour (27% of children), unauthorized absences (27% of children), and non-violent offences (24% of children).