BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 78

This is the 62nd publication of weighted Scotland estimates from the ONS’ BICS. These are experimental statistics, which means that they are still in development. All results are provisional and subject to revision.

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

• in Wave 78, 44.2% of applicable businesses reported difficulties in recruiting employees in February. The highest rates of recruitment difficulties were reported by businesses in the Construction (64.4%) and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (54.6%) industry sectors
• in Wave 78, 36.8% of businesses reported that the prices of materials, goods or services bought in February 2023 had increased compared with January 2023
• the industry sectors with the highest proportion of businesses reporting increases in prices of materials, goods and services bought were Accommodation & Food Services (60.0%) and Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (52.2%)
• in Wave 78, almost half (48.9%) of applicable businesses reported that they had been affected by the recent increase in energy prices in some way
• almost one third (32.8%) of businesses reported that their turnover had increased in February 2023 compared to the previous calendar month. Whereas 21.2% of businesses reported that their turnover had decreased over this period – rising to 35.9% of businesses in the Administration & Support Services industry sector, and 34.6% in the Transport & Storage sector

Note that BICS Scotland data for Wave 79 and Wave 80 are scheduled for release on Friday 28th of April 2023.