Monthly GDP estimates for May 2021

Scotland’s onshore GDP grew by 0.9% in May, according to statistics announced today by the Chief Statistician. Output remains 2.7% below the pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

Services sector output grew by 1.1% in May, with increases in 11 of the 14 subsectors. The largest contribution to growth was from accommodation and food services as restrictions continued to be eased across most parts of the country during May.

Output in the production sector increased by 0.7% overall, with increases in the electricity and gas supply and water and waste management subsectors offset by falls in manufacturing and the mining and quarrying sub-sector.

Output in the construction sector is estimated to have decreased by 0.8%, in line with the UK as a whole, but is 1.1% above its pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

Background

The Monthly GDP Estimate for May 2021 is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/monthly-gdp-may-2021

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the output of the economy in Scotland. These monthly estimates have been developed to help track the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These 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. All results are provisional and subject to relatively high levels of uncertainty.

All results are seasonally adjusted and presented in real terms (adjusted to remove inflation). GDP growth in this publication 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 is available at http://www.gov.scot/gdp

These estimates are compiled in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics – more information on the standards of official statistics can be accessed at: https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/code-of-practice/