Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland 2017-18

The publication of Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) 2017-18 was announced today by Scotland's Chief Statistician.

Total Public Sector Revenue 2017-18

• Including an illustrative geographic share of North Sea, Scottish public sector revenue was estimated as £60.0 billion (8.0 per cent of UK revenue). Of this, £1.3 billion was North Sea revenue. Scottish non-North Sea revenue was £58.6 billion (7.8% of UK revenue).
• Non-North Sea revenue increased from £56.6 billion in 2016-17, an increase of 3.6%.
• Scotland's illustrative share of North Sea revenue increased from £266 million in 2016-17 to £1.3 billion, reflecting an increase in total UK North Sea revenue.
• Including an illustrative geographical share of North Sea revenue, Scotland's public sector revenue is equivalent to £11,052 per person, £306 less than the UK average. Excluding North Sea revenue, it is £10,808 per person, £533 less than the UK average.

Total Public Sector Expenditure 2017-18

• Total expenditure for the benefit of Scotland by the Scottish Government, UK Government, and all other parts of the public sector was £73.4 billion. This is equivalent to 9.3 per cent of total UK public sector expenditure, and £13,530 per person, which is £1,576 per person greater than the UK average.

Current Budget Balance 2017-18

This is the difference between total revenue and current expenditure (i.e. excluding capital investment). The current budget balance:

• Including an illustrative geographic share of North Sea revenue, was a deficit of £9.3 billion (5.5% of GDP).
• Excluding North Sea revenue, was a deficit of £10.6 billion (6.8% of GDP).
• For the UK as a whole, was a surplus of £1.3 billion (0.0% of GDP)

Net Fiscal Balance 2017-18

This is the difference between total revenue and total public sector expenditure including capital investment. The net fiscal balance:

• Including an illustrative geographic share of North Sea revenue, was a deficit of £13.4 billion (7.9% of GDP).
• Excluding North Sea revenue, was a deficit of £14.8 billion (9.5% of GDP).
• For the UK as a whole, was a deficit of £39.4 billion (1.9 per cent of GDP).

The figures released today were produced in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. 

Background

The full statistical publication is available at http://www.gov.scot/gers.

The aim of GERS is to enhance public understanding of fiscal issues in Scotland. The primary objective is to estimate a set of public sector accounts for Scotland through detailed analysis of official UK and Scottish Government finance statistics. The report is designed to allow users to understand and analyse Scotland's fiscal position under different scenarios within the current constitutional framework.

GERS is a National Statistics publication, which means that it is produced independently of Scottish Ministers and has been assessed by the UK Statistics Authority as being produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. This means the statistics have been found to meet user needs, to be methodologically sound, explained well and produced free of political interference.

More information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be accessed at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/About