The information on this page is taken from verified public information sources. We have gathered it into one place for ease of reference. In most cases, the data sets are updated annually. We have provided links to the original source data to allow for more in depth analysis.

This page was last updated on: 1 June 2022

The Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification provides a standard definition of rural areas in Scotland. It is helpful to understand the difference when considering health and social care. Key facts

What we mean by rural on this site
(Not including cities of Aberdeen or Dundee)

We work with 10 health boards throughout NHS Scotland these are;

• Ayrshire and Arran (North, East, South)
• Borders
• Dumfries & Galloway
• Fife
• Grampian (Aberdeenshire & Moray)
• Highland (inc Argyll & Bute)
• Orkney
• Shetland
• Tayside (Angus, Perth & Kinross)
• Western Isles.

The total number of GP Practices within Scotland is currently 928, this is down from the previously reported 1019 Practices.

As of January 2021 there are 368 rural GP Practices within Scotland, this number has also decreased since the last reporting.

As of January 2021 there were 5,794,054 patients registered in GP Practices across Scotland.

Rural GP Practices report around 2,057,271 patients with non-rural Practices reporting around 3,786,783 patients.

The latest *information about GP workforce and Practice Populations.

*Latest figures are from PHS (formerly ISD) September 2020

Based upon the latest figures, there are currently 5,134 GPs in Scotland, this is an increase of 81 from previously reported numbers. 62% of the GPs in Scotland are female (an increase of 1%) and 38% of GPs are male (decrease of 1%).