Session 3: Population and Economy

 

Session 3 of the Shetland Partnership Plan development process took place on Wednesday 2 September 2026 at Mareel, Lerwick. The theme was Population and Economy – the second of the five thematic sessions in the process.

In total, 67 people attended – 56 in person and 11 online – representing 38 organisations, including statutory bodies, community councils, community development organisations and third sector organisations from across Shetland, including the outer islands. The session was chaired by Gary Robinson, Chair of the Shetland Partnership. Katrina Wiseman, Area Manager for Orkney and Shetland at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, presented the evidence, while Neil Grant, Director of Development Services at Shetland Islands Council, introduced the future scenarios.

Katrina’s presentation highlighted how closely Shetland’s economy and population are connected. Shetland has a strong economy, with an employment rate of 84.4% in 2025 and unemployment at just 1.9%. But the working-age share of the population has fallen from 64.4% to 59.7% over the past 20 years, while almost a third of the population is projected to be aged 65 or over by 2047. The evidence also highlighted pressures around skills and recruitment, housing, transport, connectivity, access to services and the wider cost of island living.

Participants then explored three illustrative future scenarios for Shetland to 2040 – Incremental Decline, Mixed Bag and Thriving and Resilient – using the Seven Children introduced earlier in the Partnership Plan process to consider what different futures could mean for families and communities, while linking back to the inequalities explored in Session 2. A summary note from the session is available to download below.

The next session takes place on 7 October 2026 and focuses on Housing, Transport and Digital Connectivity. Papers will be circulated ahead of the date.

The full Population and Economy evidence papers, a combined summary and the Session 3 summary note are available to download below.

Population evidence paper  Economy evidence paper  Combined summary paper  Session summary note