Evidence library

• The formal volunteering participation rate in Scotland has gone up after a long period of slow decline, from 18% in 2023 to 25% in 2024.
• This means that the number of volunteers in Scotland increased by 331,000 between 2023 and 2024
• informal volunteering, which is volunteering that happens outside of a group, club or organisation, remains steady at 36% (the same rate since 2018).
• This means that, together with formal volunteering, almost half of all Scottish adults (48%) have volunteered in some capacity at least once in the last year. 

"Volunteer Scotland is cautiously optimistic that volunteer participation in Scotland is showing early signs of recovery after a period of decline. After formal volunteer participation (that is volunteering with a group, club or organisation at least once a year) dropped to its lowest recorded level of 18% in 2023, the latest Scottish Household Survey results for 2024 show positive changes, with 25% of adults in Scotland formally volunteering.

We are particularly encouraged to see a nine-percentage point increase in formal volunteering among 16–34-year-olds. These results point to the beginning of recovery for Scotland’s voluntary sector following the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, with the formal volunteer participation rate just one-percentage point shy of the rate of 26% in 2019."