BusinessScotland earned an extra £1.1bn as exports rose pre-pandemic, report reveals

Scotland earned an extra £1.1bn as exports rose pre-pandemic, report reveals

Scotland enjoyed an increase in international exports of 3.4% in 2019, according to statistics released today.

Exports to the rest of the UK also increased, up 5%, reveals the same research.

The figures from Scotland’s Chief Statistician are contained in a report called Export Statistics Scotland 2019.

This provides estimates of the cash value of Scotland’s exports of goods and services – excluding oil and gas – by industry and destination for 2019.

 

Money - Research News Scotland
Photo by Ibrahim Rifath on Unsplash.

These show that in 2019, Scotland’s international exports increased by £1.1bn to £35.1bn.

The growth in international exports was driven by an increase in the exports of services, which went up by 9.5%.

This included strong growth in exports of information and communication services and professional, scientific and technical activities.

There was a slight decrease in manufacturing exports, which were down 0.5% in 2019.

Scotland’s exports to EU countries increased by £420m – 2.6% – to £16.4bn in 2019.

Exports to non-EU countries also increased, up £730m – 4.1% – to £18.7bn in 2019.

Scotland’s exports to the rest of the UK also increased in 2019, up £2.5bn – 5% – to £52bn.

This was driven by increased exports from the utilities sector – up 33.6% – due to strong growth in Scotland’s electricity exports to the rest of the UK.

The USA continued to be Scotland’s top export destination.

Exports to the USA were valued at £6bn and accounted for 17% of total international exports in 2019.

The rest of the top five export destination countries in 2019 were in the EU as France, £2.9 bn, was the next largest followed by the Netherlands, £2.7bn, Germany, £2.4bn and Ireland, £1.4bn.

The full statistical publication is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/export-statistics-scotland-2019

The figures released today were produced by independent statistical staff free from any political interference, in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Related Stories