Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

The Scottish index of multiple deprivation (SIMD) is a statistical tool used by local authorities, the Scottish government, the NHS and other government bodies in Scotland to support policy and decision making. It won the Royal Statistical Society's Excellence in Official Statistics Awards in 2017.

The 2016 release, known as SIMD16, was issued in August of that year and replaced the 2012 dataset.

The Scottish index of multiple deprivation measures across seven domains: current income, employment, health, education, skills and training, housing, geographic access and crime. These seven domains are calculated and weighted for 6,976 small areas, called ‘data zones’, with roughly equal population. With the population total at 5.3 million that comes to an average population of 760 people per data zone.

The principle behind the index is to target government action in the areas which need it most.