The table illustrates the participation levels of 6,800 Scottish adults across six different cultural activities, categorised by three age groups over a 12-month period. Overall, the data reveals that engagement in cultural activities varies considerably depending on the age of the participants.
Younger adults aged 16-24 were the most active participants in performance-related activities, visual arts, and writing, with figures of 35%, 30%, and 17% respectively. In contrast, these activities saw a steady decline in participation as age increased. For instance, involvement in any performance dropped to 22% for the 25-44 age group and further to 17% for those aged 45-74. Similarly, participation in visual arts plummeted from 30% in the youngest bracket to just 11% in the oldest.
Conversely, activities such as undertaking crafts and making cultural purchases were more popular among older demographics. Craft participation rose from 11% in the 16-24 age group to a peak of 22% among those aged 45-74. Cultural purchases followed a similar upward trend, increasing from 11% to 18% across the same age ranges. Computer-based activities remained relatively low overall, peaking at 10% for the youngest group and declining to 5% for the oldest.