Report is based on information provided by charities on the Scottish Charity Register

The total gross annual income of Scottish charities was £18.22 billion over the past three months, a new report has shown.

Covering the period from July to September 2025, charity regulator OSCR’s Sector Overview Report highlights some of the key facts and figures about Scottish charities.

It covers everything from income and expenditure to beneficiaries, activities and operations and is based on the information provided by charities on the Scottish Charity Register.

The report says that despite charities with an income of £500,000 or more comprising just 10% of those on the register, they account for about 93% of the total income of the Scottish voluntary sector.

However, the income figures come with a caveat - OSCR found that the 18 Scottish universities included on the charity register accounted for 31% of the sector’s total income, while the 24 further education colleges accounted for nearly 6 per cent.

While technically charities, many don’t include institutions like universities, private schools and arms-length organisations (Aleos) as part of the sector.

OSCR’s shows that almost half of charities (49%) have an income below £25,000 per year, while nearly a third (27%) have an income of less than £5,000.

Meanwhile, two thirds (66%) of charities have no paid staff and are run entirely by volunteers.

Most charities have between one and 50 volunteers, however 27% of charities have stated they have no volunteers.

The report shows that 40% of Scottish charities operate locally at a specific place, community or neighbourhood, meanwhile almost 11% of Scottish charities have an international focus and operate overseas.

Read the full report here: OSCR Sector Overview Report.