Fuel poverty

Results from the Scottish House Condition Survey reveal the detrimental impact of the cost of living crisis on progress towards the Scottish Government’s target to eradicate fuel poverty by 2040. In 2022, 791,000 households (31% of all households) were estimated to be in fuel poverty, of which 472,000 (18.5% of all households) were in extreme fuel poverty. This represents a steep rise from 25% of households that were in fuel poverty in 2019.

In response to rising fuel costs in 2022, the Scottish Public Health Network (ScotPHN) published a series of reports highlighting key issues, research and information on the relationship between fuel poverty and health. In particular, fuel poverty is linked with increased excess winter deaths in the elderly.  In older adults, it is linked with circulatory and respiratory disease, greater risk of falls and injury, and aggravation of arthritis.  For younger age groups, it is linked with asthma, respiratory problems, as well as impaired physical growth and cognitive development. Fuel poverty is also linked with increased anxiety and depression across all age-groups.