Scottish Household Survey 2025 findings: Cultural Engagement
Data from the Scottish Household Survey 2025 exploring cultural engagement in Scotland.
Attendance at cultural events or places
Around four in five respondents (79%) attended a cultural event or place during the previous 12 months in 2025. Attendance increased from 76% in 2023 approaching the pre-pandemic level of 81% recorded in 2019 (Figure 3 and Table 2 in the accompanying Excel workbook).
When cinema attendance was excluded, attendance increased from 69% in 2023 to 75% in 2025, indicating that growth was not driven by cinema attendance alone.[1] The proportion of respondents who had not attended any cultural event or place during the previous 12 months fell from 24% in 2023 to 21% in 2025.
Figure 3: Attendance at cultural events and places continued to recover towards pre-pandemic levels in 2025
Percentage of respondents who attended cultural events and places in the last 12 months, Scotland, 2018-2025.
Cinema remained the most commonly attended cultural event or place in 2025, with just over half of respondents (53%) reporting attendance during the previous 12 months (Figure 4 and Table 2 in the accompanying Excel workbook). Live music events (41%), historic places (38%), museums (36%) and theatres (35%) were the next most commonly attended cultural events and places. Twenty seven percent of respondents attended a library, while 24% attended an art gallery. Attendance was lowest for archive or records offices (2%) and opera performances (3%).
Figure 4: Cinema remained the most commonly attended cultural event or place in 2025
Percentage of respondents who attended cultural events and places in the last 12 months, Scotland, 2025.
Attendance increased across many different types of cultural events and places between 2023 and 2025 (Figure 5 and Table 2 in the accompanying Excel workbook). The largest increases were observed for libraries and museums (both up around six percentage points), followed by live music events, theatres and historic places (all up around five percentage points). Attendance also increased for several other activities, including comedy performances, classical music performances, book festivals and culturally specific festivals.
Figure 5: Libraries and museums recorded the largest increases in attendance between 2023 and 2025
Percentage point (pp) change in attendance at cultural events and places, Scotland, 2023-2025.
People visiting libraries continued to do so more frequently than users of most other cultural services and venues. Fifteen per cent of respondents who had visited a library in the previous 12 months did so at least once a week, while 35% visited at least once a month. By comparison, 15% of cinema-goers attended at least once a month. For most other cultural events and places, attendance was less frequent, with the majority of attendees visiting less often than once a month but at least once during the previous year (Table 17 in the accompanying Excel workbook).
Attendance at cultural events or places by Local Authority
Attendance at cultural events and places continued to vary across Scotland’s Local Authorities in 2025 (Figure 6 and Table 2 in the accompanying Excel workbook). The City of Edinburgh had the highest percentage of respondents who attended a cultural event or place of culture in the previous 12 months (90%), followed by Midlothian and East Lothian (both 87%). Attendance was lowest in Inverclyde (66%) and North Ayrshire (67%).
Several Local Authorities recorded increases in attendance between 2023 and 2025 (Table 2 in the accompanying Excel workbook). The largest increases was recorded in Moray, where attendance rose from 60% to 74%, West Lothian (69% to 80%), Midlothian (79% to 87%) and Fife (73% to 81%). Although the increase in attendance in Moray between 2023 and 2025 was large, attendance in Moray was comparatively low in 2023. The 2025 attendance rate is similar to levels recorded before the pandemic, suggesting recovery from the lower 2023 position.
Despite variation between Local Authority areas, attendance remained widespread across Scotland, with a majority of respondents attending a cultural event or place in every Local Authority.
Differences between areas are likely to reflect a range of factors, including local population characteristics, access to cultural opportunities and the availability of cultural services and venues.
Figure 6: Attendance at cultural events and places was highest in The City of Edinburgh and lowest in Inverclyde in 2025[2]
Percentage of respondents who attended any cultural event or place in the last 12 months, by Local Authority, Scotland, 2025.
Attendance at cultural events or places by population subgroup
Attendance at cultural events and places varied across population groups in 2025. Some of the largest differences were associated with socioeconomic circumstances, including qualification level, household income and area deprivation. Differences were also observed by age, urban-rural split, disability status, economic status, sexual orientation, religious belonging, marital status, ethnicity and sex (Tables 3 to 16 in the accompanying Excel workbook).
Respondents with a degree or professional qualification were more likely to attend a cultural event or place during the previous 12 months than respondents with no qualifications (91% compared with 47%) (Figure 7).
Figure 7: Attendance at cultural events and places increased with qualification level in 2025
Percentage of respondents who attended any cultural event or place in the last 12 months, by highest level of qualification, Scotland, 2025.
Differences by qualification level were evident across a wide range of cultural events and places. The largest differences were observed for visits to historic places and museums. More than half of respondents with a degree or professional qualification had visited a historic place during the previous 12 months (56%), compared with 11% of respondents with no qualifications. Museum attendance ranged from 53% among respondents with a degree or professional qualification to 12% among respondents with no qualifications.
Household income was also associated with cultural attendance. Respondents living in households with a net annual income of £30,001 or more were more likely to attend a cultural event or place than those living in households with an income of up to £10,000 (87% compared with 59%) (Figure 8). Similar patterns were observed across many individual cultural events and places, particularly attendance at cinemas, museums, historic places and live music events.
Figure 8: Attendance at cultural events and places was higher among respondents in higher-income households
Percentage of respondents who attended any cultural event or place in the last 12 months, by net annual household income, Scotland, 2025.
Attendance was higher among respondents living in less deprived areas of Scotland (Figure 9). Respondents living in the 20% least deprived areas were more likely to attend a cultural event or place than those living in the 20% most deprived areas (89% compared with 69%). Differences were observed across most cultural events and places, including theatres, historic places, museums and live music events.
Figure 9: Attendance at cultural events and places was higher in the least deprived areas of Scotland
Percentage of respondents who attended any cultural event or place in the last 12 months, by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile, Scotland, 2025.
Age was also associated with cultural attendance. Younger respondents were more likely to attend cultural events and places than older respondents. Attendance ranged from 87% among respondents aged 16 to 24 and 25 to 34, to 56% among respondents aged 75 and over. Some of the largest age differences were observed for cinema attendance and attendance at live music events.
Attendance was lower among disabled respondents than non-disabled respondents (63% compared with 85%). Respondents identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual were more likely to attend a cultural event or place than respondents identifying as heterosexual or straight (93% compared with 79%). Attendance was also lower among respondents who were permanently retired from work than among respondents in employment (68% compared with 88%).
While differences were evident across many population groups, library attendance tended to vary less than many other forms of cultural attendance, suggesting that libraries continue to attract a relatively broad range of users.
More detailed subgroup results are available in the accompanying data tables (Tables 3 to 16 in the accompanying Excel workbook).
Aspirations of attendance at cultural events and places
Respondents who had attended a cultural event or place during the previous 12 months were asked whether there were any cultural events or places they would like to attend, or attend more often.
In 2025, around half of respondents (51%) reported that there was at least one cultural event or place they would like to attend, or attend more often. This was higher than in 2023 (40%) and similar to the level recorded in 2019 (51%). Around half of respondents (49%) reported no desire to attend a cultural event or place more often (Table 18 in the accompanying Excel workbook).
Live music events generated the highest level of aspiration in 2025. Twenty three per cent of respondents reported that they would like to attend a live music event, or attend one more often. Aspirations were also relatively common for cinema attendance (15%) and theatre attendance (14%). Smaller proportions of respondents reported wanting to attend historic places (9%), comedy performances (9%) and museums (7%) more often.
Among respondents who had not attended any cultural event or place during the previous 12 months, 31% expressed a desire to attend at least one cultural event or place, while 69% reported no aspiration to attend (Table 19 in the accompanying Excel workbook).
These findings suggest that not all non-attendance reflects unmet demand. A majority of respondents who had not attended a cultural event or place during the previous 12 months did not express a desire to attend one more often.
Factors limiting or preventing attendance at cultural events and places
Despite high levels of cultural attendance in Scotland, some respondents reported barriers that limited or prevented their attendance at cultural events and places in 2025.
The most commonly reported factor limiting or preventing attendance was a lack of time (19%), followed by the cost of tickets (17%) (Figure 10 and Table 20 in the accompanying Excel workbook). Eleven per cent of respondents reported that cultural events and places were too far away, while 8% reported that they had not got round to attending. Health problems (5%), lack of information on what was available, lack of transport and lack of childcare (all 4%) were also reported barriers.
Figure 10: Lack of time and the cost of tickets were the most commonly reported barriers to attending cultural events and places in 2025
Percentage of respondents reporting factors that limited or prevented attendance at cultural events and places, Scotland, 2025.
Several barriers were reported more frequently in 2025 than in 2023. The proportion of respondents citing lack of time increased from 14% to 19%, while the proportion reporting the cost of tickets as a barrier increased from 12% to 17%. The proportion reporting that cultural events and places were too far away also increased, from 7% to 11%.
Footnotes
[1] Results for cultural attendance have been presented both including and excluding visits to the cinema, to help illustrate different elements of cultural attendance.
[2] Table of Local Authority breakdowns is provided in Table 2 in Additional SHS Culture tables.
Contact
Office of the Chief Statistician
email: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot
Social Research
email: socialresearch@gov.scot