Exports statistics Scotland 2021

The USA remains Scotland's largest export destination

Scotland exported £5.1 billion of goods and services to the USA in 2021, making it Scotland’s largest international export destination, accounting for 16% of Scotland’s international export value in 2021. For exports to the USA, the largest industry sector was ‘food, beverages, and tobacco’, which accounted for a fifth (20%) of Scotland’s exports to the USA in 2021 and was worth just over £1.0 billion.

Despite being the largest export destination, Scotland’s exports to USA saw a drop in 2020 compared to the previous year (down £1.3 billion, 21.7%), and remained lower in 2021 compared to 2019 (down £810 million, 13.6%).

The other top export destinations in 2021 were France (£3.0 billion, 10% of international exports), which ranked second in 2019, 2020 and 2021, and Germany (£2.5 billion, 8% of international exports). Germany overtook the Netherlands as an export destination in 2020 due to a larger drop in the value of exports to the Netherlands in 2020 than for Germany. The value of Scotland’s exports to Germany in 2021 had almost returned to pre-pandemic levels (2019) but exports to the Netherlands fell by over a quarter between 2019 and 2021.

Scotland’s top ten international export destinations accounted for over half (59%) of Scotland’s international exports in 2021.

Figure 8. The USA was Scotland’s largest international export destination in 2021

Estimated value of exports to Scotland’s top ten export destinations in 2021.