18th February 2026
National headlines keep telling us that inflation is falling, the economy is stabilising, and the worst of the cost‑of‑living crisis is behind us. But in Caithness, that message feels like it's coming from another planet. The technical definition of inflation may be improving, but the lived experience here is one of rising hardship, shrinking services, and a growing sense of abandonment.
For people in Wick, Thurso, Lybster, Castletown, and the scattered rural communities in between, the cost of living is not easing. It's tightening. And the reasons are structural, not statistical.
Inflation Falls, Prices Don’t
Inflation measures the rate at which prices rise, not the prices themselves. So when inflation drops from 10% to 4%, it doesn’t mean food, fuel, or heating costs are going down. It simply means they’re rising more slowly.
But in Caithness, prices didn’t just rise during the inflation spike as they surged from an already high baseline. A weekly shop that jumped from £60 to £80 hasn’t returned to £60. A tank of heating oil that cost £400 now costs £700 or more. A return trip to Inverness for medical care can swallow £50-£70 in fuel before you’ve even bought a sandwich. NHS Highland pays some expenses but not all of it.
Inflation falling doesn’t reverse any of that.
Transport: A Daily Financial Penalty
Transport is where the rural reality diverges most sharply from the national narrative. In Caithness, travel isn’t a lifestyle choice — it’s a necessity.
The nearest major hospital is over 100 miles away.
For many services, Caithness General simply isn’t an option anymore. Patients are routinely sent to Raigmore in Inverness, a round trip of more than 200 miles.
Public transport is limited, unreliable, and often impractical.
Buses are infrequent, slow, and don’t align with hospital appointments or work schedules. Trains exist, but the timetable is sparse and the journey is long.
Car dependency is absolute
Rising fuel prices hit Caithness harder than almost anywhere else. Even a small increase per litre becomes a major burden when every essential journey is long-distance.
For low‑income families, transport costs alone can push them into crisis. A single hospital appointment can wipe out a week’s disposable income.
The Collapse of Local Services
The cost‑of‑living crisis in Caithness is amplified by the hollowing‑out of local services — a process that has been accelerating for years.
High street decline
Wick and Thurso have seen wave after wave of closures:
Banks
Post offices
Clothing shops
Cafes
Independent retailers
Every closure forces residents to travel further for basic needs. What used to be a walk into town is now a 20‑mile drive — or a 200‑mile round trip if the service has been centralised to Inverness.
Public services pulled away
Jobcentres, Tax Office services, the public sector generally and even some social care functions have been centralised or cut back. Each loss adds another layer of cost, inconvenience, and inequality. The empty office at Girnigoe Street in Wick are testimony to the withdrawal of government from Caithness.
The maternity debacle
Nothing symbolises the erosion of local services more painfully than the long-running maternity crisis.
For years, Caithness women have been forced to travel to Inverness to give birth — a journey of more than 100 miles, often in winter, often in distress, and sometimes in danger. The community has fought tirelessly for safe, consultant-led maternity services to return, but the situation remains unresolved.
This isn’t just a healthcare issue. It’s a cost‑of‑living issue:
Fuel costs for repeated antenatal appointments
Lost income from time off work
Accommodation costs when labour is unpredictable
Emotional and physical stress that no statistic captures
When maternity services are located 100 miles away, the financial burden on families is enormous — and entirely invisible in national inflation figures.
Food and Energy: Higher Baseline, Higher Pain
Food prices in Caithness have always been higher due to transport costs and limited competition. When food inflation surged nationally, Caithness felt it twice over. Even now, with inflation falling, the price of basics remains significantly above pre‑crisis levels.
Energy is another structural disadvantage:
Many homes rely on heating oil or LPG
Older housing stock leaks heat
Rural homes face harsher weather and longer winters
Energy efficiency upgrades are expensive and often impractical
A "typical household energy cap" means nothing when your home is nothing like the typical household.
Wages That Don’t Keep Up
Caithness has:
Lower average wages
Fewer full‑time jobs
More seasonal and part‑time work
Limited career progression
Higher travel costs to reach employment
Even when wages rise, they rarely keep pace with the cumulative increases in food, fuel, rent, and energy.
The Cumulative Squeeze
The real story isn’t any single cost. It’s the combination:
Higher food prices
Higher fuel prices
Higher heating costs
Higher travel costs
Fewer local services
Lower wages
Long-distance healthcare
High street decline
Each pressure compounds the others. And because Caithness households have fewer alternatives, the impact is deeper and more enduring.
Falling inflation is a statistical improvement, not a lived one. In Caithness, the cost of living is still rising, and the hardship is intensifying. The national narrative — "inflation is down, things are improving" — simply doesn’t reflect the reality of life in the far north.
Here, the crisis isn’t easing. It’s evolving into something more insidious: a slow, grinding erosion of affordability, accessibility, and dignity.