BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 122

Latest main findings for businesses with 10+ employees and a presence in Scotland

• in December 2024, an estimated 23.1% of businesses experienced a shortage of workers
• the industry sector with the highest proportion of businesses experiencing a shortage of workers was Administrative & Support Service Activities (40.6%), followed by Construction (30.8%)
• the main concern for businesses for January 2025 was falling demand of goods and services (17.2%), followed by taxation (14.8%)
• for an estimated 22.3% of businesses the prices of materials, goods or services bought in November 2024 had increased compared with October 2024; up from 16.1% in the previous month
• an estimated 25.0% of businesses were expecting to increase prices in January 2025; up from 10.0% in the previous month
• an estimated 29.7% of businesses saw a reduction in their turnover in November 2024 compared to the previous calendar month; turnover increased for 18.4% of businesses
• in December 2024, 30.4% of businesses thought their performance would increase over the next 12 months and 11.6% expected performance to decrease

Note that the next BICS Scotland publication, with data to Wave 123, is scheduled for release on Thursday 16 January 2025.