Monthly GDP estimates for August

Scotland’s onshore GDP fell by 0.3% in August, after remaining flat (0.0% growth) in July, according to statistics announced today by the Chief Statistician.

In the three months to August, GDP is estimated to have fallen by 0.8% compared to the previous three-month period. This indicates a contraction during Quarter 3 so far, after the flat output in Quarter 2 (April to June) 2022, which was confirmed to be unrevised in the Quarterly National Accounts publication also released today.

In August, output in the services sector, which accounts for around three quarters of the economy, is estimated to have fallen by 0.3%. At the broad level, output in consumer facing services fell by 2.4%, while health, education and public services output fell by 0.4%, and output in all other services grew by 0.3%.

Overall output in production, construction and agriculture fell by 0.1% compared to the previous month, with flat output in manufacturing and growth of 0.3% in construction offset by a fall of 2.1% in water and waste management.

Background

Monthly estimate for August 2022

Quarterly national accounts for Q2 (April to June) 2022

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the output of the economy in Scotland. The monthly estimates are designated as experimental official statistics. This means that they are still in development but have been released to enable their use at an early stage.

The GDP Quarterly National Accounts release for 2022 Quarter 2 was also released today, showing growth was unrevised at 0.0% in the second three months of the year along with a range of other statistics which are used for economic analysis, forecasting and modelling.

All results are seasonally adjusted and presented in real terms (adjusted to remove inflation). GDP growth relates to Scotland’s onshore economy, which means it does not include the output of offshore oil and gas extraction.

Further information on GDP statistics