Scottish Annual Business Statistics 2022

Introduction

The Scottish Annual Business Statistics (SABS) data are sourced from the Annual Business Survey (ABS) conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Note that overall growth rates associated with the ABS are not comparable to the official growth rates for the whole economy given that significant sectors of the economy are not included in the ABS and the results have not been balanced with other datasets. 

SABS measures the non-financial business economy. The industry sectors not covered in SABS are the financial sector and parts of the agriculture and public sector. The SABS statistics are best suited to the analysis of industry sectors, which are defined according to the UK Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SIC07). 

The estimate of approximate Gross Value Added at basic prices (aGVA) represents the income (Turnover) of businesses, less the cost of goods and services consumed in the production process (Purchases). Data are in current prices, which means that the values have not been adjusted for inflation. Note that inflation rates were particularly high in 2022. In October 2022 the annual inflation rate, measured by the Office for National Statistics Consumer Prices Index, reached 11.1% - which is estimated to be the highest rate in over 40 years.

Revisions

Within SABS 2022 the latest results for 2022 are provisional and will be made final when they are re-published within SABS 2023 - at which point they may be revised due to late returns. The results for 2021, within SABS 2022, have been revised and are now final.

Sample Design

The ABS sample is as a stratified random sample of UK businesses from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The survey population or universe is stratified by industry, employment and country using the information from the IDBR. The sample selects all the largest businesses with a reducing fraction of smaller businesses. This method ensures the sample size is kept to a minimum. The ABS returns are grossed up to the register population, so that the estimates relate to all active businesses on the IDBR for the sectors covered.

Usually, the data for Scotland is based on ABS returns from around 8,000 businesses. However, the returns for 2019 and 2020 were lower at approximately 6,000 returns – this was because the COVID-19 pandemic made it more difficult to contact respondents in order to process survey returns. This means that the 2019 and 2020 estimates in this release are subject to more uncertainty than usual.

An Accredited Official Statistics Publication for Scotland

These statistics are accredited official statistics. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has independently reviewed and accredited these statistics as complying with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The OSR published a report accrediting Scottish Annual Business Statistics in March 2012. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Scottish Government statistics are regulated by the OSR. OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

More information about Scottish Government statistics is available on the Scottish Government website.