Gender: data introduction

The data presented on these pages concern sex, gender and health.

The Scottish Government’s Gender Evidence Review, which has been archived, used to provide evidence across a much wider range of areas which influence health.

In October 2024, National Advisory Council on Women and Girls carried out a thematic gender review of the new National Performance Framework, which assisted in the development of the new proposed National Outcomes to better address gender inequalities in Scotland. To measure how well we are achieving what matters to the people of Scotland as conceptualised through the National Outcomes, 81 National Indicators were selected to track progress. Each National Indicator measures an aspect of national wellbeing, including a range of social, economic, and environmental factors. These National Indicators come from many sources, including large population surveys such as the Scottish Household Survey, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey and the Scottish Health Survey.

Work that has already been delivered in this regard can be seen on the National Performance Framework website where equalities data is currently reported on for relevant National Indicators, including by gender or sex where that data is available.

There has also been ongoing work in Scottish Government to improve the quality of data on women and girls, to enable evidence-informed policy making. Scotland’s Gender Index (GEI) was developed in 2020 and recently updated in 2023 (Scotland’s Gender Equality Index 2023). The purpose of the GEI is to allow tracking over time and identify trends in the issues facing women and girls in Scotland.

Table 1: Data availability