Scotland's International Goods Trade: Quarter 3 2023
This report contains Scotland's trade in goods data from the latest release of HMRC's Regional Trade Statistics (RTS).
Compared to the previous year, the value of Scotland’s goods exports to the EU in the year ending September 2023 decreased by 1.6% (£331 million) to £20.7 billion. The value of goods exports from the UK to the EU experienced a small increase of 0.5% over this period. However, when oil and gas are excluded, the value of Scotland’s goods exports to the EU increased by 3.2% in the year ending September 2023 compared with the previous year, which is similar to the 3.6% increase experienced by the UK.
There was a substantial decrease in the value of Scotland’s gas exports to the EU, which decreased by £1.3 billion (down 39.3%) in the year ending September 2023 compared to the previous year. The majority of this decrease was due to a decrease in the value of gas exports to Ireland, although this is heavily impacted by drops in the price of gas, as there was actually an increase in the volume of gas exports to Ireland over this period. There was also growth in the value of exports of oil (up £689 million, 8.2%), other transport equipment (up £355 million, 122.2%), and drink (up £125 million, 7.8%) to the EU during this period. However, these increases in export value do not necessarily reflect an increase in the volume of exports and are impacted by inflation. In this case the volume exported of all of these named commodities actually decreased over this period, with the exception of oil which increased by 15.7%.
The only other products in Scotland’s top ten exported goods to the EU to experience a decrease in value were chemical materials & products (down £64 million, 12.8%) and fish & shellfish (down £30 million, 3.6%). There was a decrease in volume in both of these products also, as there was for most of the other top ten commodities.
Table 3. The value of goods exports to the EU by UK nation, £ billions, year ending (YE) September (Q3) 2019, 2022, 2023
|
UK Nation |
YE Q3 2019 |
YE Q3 2022 |
YE Q3 2023 |
YE Q3 2019 v YE Q3 2023 (%) |
YE Q3 2022 v YE Q3 2023 (%) |
|
Scotland |
17.3 |
21.0 |
20.7 |
19.3% |
-1.6% |
|
Scotland (exc. Oil & Gas) |
7.8 |
9.3 |
9.6 |
21.9% |
3.2% |
|
England |
124.4 |
130.0 |
129.7 |
4.3% |
-0.2% |
|
Wales |
10.9 |
11.2 |
11.6 |
6.8% |
3.4% |
|
Northern Ireland |
5.4 |
5.8 |
6.8 |
25.0% |
17.9% |
|
United Kingdom |
170.0 |
187.8 |
188.7 |
11.0% |
0.5% |
|
United Kingdom (exc. Oil & Gas) |
148.0 |
152.9 |
158.4 |
7.0% |
3.6% |
Source: HMRC RTS, Q3 2023
Figure 4. Excluding oil and gas, Scotland had similar proportional growth to the UK in terms of value of exports to the EU
Percentage change in the value of goods exports to EU countries by UK nation and UK overall, in the year ending September 2023 compared with the year ending September 2022
Source: HMRC RTS, Q3 2023
Figure 5. The value of Scotland’s goods exports to EU countries has declined in 2023, driven by a drop in the value of oil and gas exports
Value (£ billion) of Scotland’s goods exports to EU countries (quarterly), 2018 Q1 to 2023 Q3
Source: HMRC RTS, Q3 2023
Table 4. The value of Scotland’s top ten exported goods to the EU, £ billions, in the year ending (YE) September (Q3) 2019, 2022, 2023
|
Product |
YE Q3 2019 |
YE Q3 2022 |
YE Q3 2023 |
YE Q3 2019 v YE Q3 2023 (%) |
YE Q3 2022 v YE Q3 2023 (%) |
|
Oil |
9.0 |
8.4 |
9.1 |
0.7% |
8.2% |
|
Gas |
0.5 |
3.4 |
2.0 |
325.9% |
-39.3% |
|
Drink |
1.4 |
1.6 |
1.7 |
22.0% |
7.8% |
|
Power generating machinery |
0.3 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
156.9% |
4.4% |
|
Fish and shellfish |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
6.1% |
-3.6% |
|
General industrial machinery |
0.5 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
44.2% |
10.6% |
|
Other transport equipment |
0.2 |
0.3 |
0.6 |
321.2% |
122.2% |
|
Chemical materials & products |
0.4 |
0.5 |
0.4 |
22.2% |
-12.8% |
|
Medicinal & pharmaceutical products |
0.3 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
47.2% |
14.3% |
|
Electrical machinery & appliances |
0.4 |
0.3 |
0.4 |
4.3% |
20.6% |
Source: HMRC RTS, Q3 2023
Figure 6. Oil was the top good exported to the EU, accounting for 44% of the value of Scotland’s goods exports to EU countries
Scotland’s top ten exported goods to the EU, in the year ending Q3 2023
Source: HMRC RTS, Q3 2023
Oil exports to the EU increased in volume exported in the year ending September 2023 compared to the previous year, there were also modest increases in volume of medicinal & pharmaceutical products and electrical machinery & appliances exported to the EU. The other top ten exported products to the EU decreased in volume exported, despite the increases in value depicted in table 4.
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