BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 82

This is the 65th 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 82, 40.5% of applicable businesses reported difficulties in recruiting employees in April. The highest rates of recruitment difficulties were reported by businesses in the Construction (50.4%), Accommodation & Food Services (48.8%) and Information & Communications (47.9%) industry sectors
• in Wave 82, 41.5% of businesses reported that the prices of materials, goods or services bought in April 2023 had increased compared with March 2023
• the industry sector with the highest proportion of businesses reporting increases in prices of materials, goods and services bought was Accommodation & Food Services (61.8%)
• in Wave 82, almost half (48.8%) of applicable businesses reported that they had been affected by the recent increase in energy prices in some way
• in Wave 82, 26.6% of businesses reported that their turnover had increased in April 2023 compared to the previous calendar month. Whereas 24.6% of businesses reported that their turnover had decreased over this period – rising to 38.6% of businesses in the Manufacturing industry sector