Statistics News Release

An Experimental Statistics Publication for Scotland.

Scotland’s GDP fell by 1.4% in November, according to statistics announced today by the Chief Statistician. This is the first drop in GDP after six months of growth following the easing of the first lockdown in 2020. Output remains 7.1% below the level in February, prior to the direct impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Output continued to grow in the production and construction sectors, but fell by 2.2% overall in the services sector as restrictions on economic activity were extended or reintroduced across large parts of the country. The largest contributors to the drop were accommodation and food services, retail and wholesale, other personal services, and the arts, culture and recreation sector. These are the industries which are directly affected by the restrictions in the local protection levels which were in place throughout November.

Output in the production sector increased by 0.8% overall, with growth in manufacturing, mining, water and waste offset by a fall in electricity and gas supply. Construction sector output is estimated to have increased by 1.8% compared to October.

Background:

The Monthly GDP Estimate for November is available at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/monthly-gdp-november-2020

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/