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.
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/
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.
