Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland 2008-09

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland ( GERS) is a National Statistics publication.
• GERS follows the current practice of ONS and HM Treasury in incorporating the effects of the financial sector interventions into the public accounts. The financial crisis has clearly been a unique event, particularly over the publication period of GERS, and therefore separating out this particular element helps provide continuity with previous GERS publications. Therefore in this edition of GERS, estimates are provided of Scotland's public sector finances both including and not including a share of the expenditure associated with the UK Government's financial sector interventions.
• Incorporating a share of the expenditure associated with the UK Government's financial sector interventions, in 2008-09, the estimated current budget balance for the public sector in Scotland was a deficit of £10.5 billion (9.1 per cent of GDP) excluding North Sea revenue, a deficit of £9.4 billion (8.0 per cent of GDP) including a per capita share of North Sea revenue or a surplus of £1.3 billion (0.9 per cent of GDP) including an illustrative geographical share of North Sea revenue. These estimates are comparable with the estimate of the UK's current budget balance published in the March 2010 UK Budget.
• Not including a share of the UK Government's financial sector interventions, in 2008-09, the estimated current budget balance for the public sector in Scotland was a deficit of £10.5 billion (9.1 per cent of GDP) excluding North Sea revenue, a deficit of £9.4 billion (8.0 per cent of GDP) including a per capita share of North Sea revenue or a surplus of £1.2 billion (0.9 per cent of GDP) including an illustrative geographical share of North Sea revenue.
• Incorporating a share of the expenditure associated with the UK Government's financial sector interventions, in 2008-09, the estimated net fiscal balance was a deficit of £15.5 billion (13.5 per cent of GDP) when excluding North Sea revenue, a deficit of £14.5 billion (12.2 per cent of GDP) when including a per capita share of North Sea revenue or a deficit of £3.8 billion (2.6 per cent of GDP) when an illustrative geographical share of North Sea revenue is included. This is comparable with the estimate of UK net borrowing published in the March 2010 UK Budget.
• Not including a share of the UK Government's financial sector interventions, in 2008-09, the estimated net fiscal balance in Scotland, that is the estimated current budget balance plus estimated net capital investment, was a deficit of £14.7 billion (12.8 per cent of GDP) when excluding North Sea revenue, a deficit of £13.6 billion (11.5 per cent of GDP) when including a per capita share of North Sea revenue or a deficit of £3.0 billion (2.1 per cent of GDP) when an illustrative geographical share of North Sea revenue is included.
• In 2008-09, total Scottish non-North Sea public sector revenue was estimated at £43.5 billion, equivalent to 8.3 per cent of the comparative total UK non-North Sea public sector revenue.
• In 2008-09, total public sector expenditure for Scotland was estimated at £56.5 billion (equivalent to 9.4 per cent of total UK public sector expenditure) when a share of the UK Government's financial sector interventions is included, and £55.8 billion (equivalent to 9.4 per cent of total UK public sector expenditure), when these are not included.