The latest GDP data for Scotland shows that the Scottish economy continued to contract into December with a decline of 0.3%. The Scottish economy remains 7.2% below pre-pandemic levels; this compares to 6.3% in the UK economy.
The UK has one of the highest levels of regional income inequality across developed countries. The Johnson government proposes to tackle this with a leveling up agenda. But where does Scotland fit into this picture? We show that the answer to this question depends on the type of regions we compare. As a whole, Scotland has income levels close to the UK average but looking closer we find a more nuanced picture.
As the national lockdown remains across Scotland and the UK, and we approach the one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Scotland, the story amongst the sectors of the economy continues to emerge.
Scotland, like the rest of the UK, remains under a national lockdown with over half of Scottish businesses with furloughed staff and a rise in businesses expecting to make staff redundant in the coming weeks.
At the end of last year we published our first ‘back to basics’ article on Scotland’s business base. This article is the second in our series and we will be discussing how investment in R&D has evolved the past few years, the challenges and opportunities for R&D in Scotland and the future of R&D.
In our last update back in November, the number of businesses trading and the outlook for business activity remained fairly stable. However, with restrictions tightening over the Christmas period, many businesses finished off 2020 with more uncertainty than hoped.
Mairi Spowage, Deputy Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute is joined by Adam McGeoch and David Eiser of the Fraser of Allander Institute and Steve Williams, Senior Partner at Deloitte to discuss todays Fraser of Allander Economic Commentary.
So, following up from last week’s news that the UK is in recession, we’ve had official confirmation that Scotland is also. Monthly GDP statistics published this morning by the Scottish Government confirm that the economy contracted by 19.7% in Q2, following a contraction in Q1 of 2.5%.
The shifting balance of economic activity from west to east is leading to fundamental structural shifts in our economy. The growth in population, investment and job opportunities is displacing once traditional engines of growth with new ones. But these changes are bringing their own pressures, on public services and infrastructure. …
The economic rise of the east: Scotland’s powerhouse region Read More »
Recently, the Scottish Government published their latest Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) results. This includes data on R&D activity of businesses operating in Scotland in 2017. This led to the Scottish Government concluding that “Scottish businesses are investing record amounts in research and development” – with expenditure in Scotland …
