Inflation Adjusted HMRC Regional Trade Statistics for Scotland: Methodology

Quality assessment: Relevance

This publication shows the extent of trade activity for goods traded internationally which is an important contributor to overall economic growth in Scotland. These statistics provide a useful early indicator of trade activity, in advance of more comprehensive estimates produced in ESS and the Supply and Use tables.

The framework used to understand Scotland’s trade in goods comes from the Standard Industrial Trade Classification (SITC) used by HMRC. For further details of the strengths and limitations of the RTS data, see the RTS methodology note.

The main users of this data are officials within the Scottish Government and trade promotion organisations such as Scottish Development International and GlobalScot.