Scotland's economy continues to grow

Scotland’s GDP grew by 0.1% in the second quarter of 2017, increasing by a total of 0.7% since the start of the year, according to Scotland’s latest GDP statistics published today.

Over the past 12 months, Scotland’s GDP increased by 0.5%, with the services industry in particular driving growth.

This annual rate of change has picked up over each of the last two quarters, recovering from the contraction at the end of 2016

Economy Secretary Keith Brown said:

“Today’s figures are good news, showing the Scottish economy continuing to grow over the second quarter of this year.

“Although this is more modest growth than we would ideally like to see, it is particularly pleasing to see growth over the first half of the year in industries linked to the oil and gas supply chain, which provides more evidence that confidence is gradually returning to the sector.

“Additionally we are seeing strength in Scotland’s services sector – which is  particularly good news given that it is by far the largest part of the economy in terms of turnover, value added and employment. This, in addition to our record low unemployment and record high employment rates, is evidence that the fundamentals of our economy remain strong.

“While construction output continues to adjust as a number of major infrastructure projects have reached completion, it remains significantly higher than in 2014 and the Scottish Government continues to support the industry with our total planned capital investment of £4 billion in this financial year.

“However, I want to be clear that the single biggest threat to our economy as a whole remains the lack of clarity from the UK Government over Brexit. I would once again call on the UK Government to give people and businesses greater certainty over the Brexit process in order to further stimulate growth in Scotland’s business communities and allow us to continue to attract and retain talent within our workforce.”