Scottish GDP Rises Double That of Britain

The Scottish economy has grown by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2018. Official figures show on a year-on-year basis Scottish GDP had grown by 0.8%. The figure is marginally above the equivalent UK GDP Q1 growth figure of 0.1%.

In Scotland manufacturing grew along with services and production, but construction declined sharply by 3.5%, Insider.co reported.

Liz Cameron, director & chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce said the GDP figures were “positive”. She added: However, these statistics continue to highlight key issues in Scotland’s economy, particularly in the construction sector which has now contracted for nine successive quarters.

“The fall in Q1 was particularly pronounced for the sector, with the ‘Beast from the East’ impacting activity. Despite this fall in construction output, there was positivity in key sectors such as manufacturing and business service and finance, which respectively provided the highest contributions to growth.

“We expect the recently refreshed Scottish cabinet and ministerial team to bring a renewed vigor to Scotland’s approach to the economic challenges that we face. Combined portfolios linking transport, infrastructure and connectivity should, in theory, provide a more holistic economic approach.

“A key priority should be the accelerated regeneration and renewal of Scotland’s infrastructure, which should act to bolster our domestic construction sector.”

The federation of small businesses said the ‘slow’ growth matched its new figures showing growing confidence among Scotland’s businesses.

Stuart Mackinnon, FSB’s external affairs manager for Scotland, said: “These figures show the Scottish economy growing slowly in the first three months of the year, though slightly faster than the UK as a whole.

“With new figures out today showing growing business confidence, it is up to policymakers to nurture this newfound optimism to get the economy moving. That means securing a Brexit deal that works for small firms and tackling domestic problems like late payment and poor digital infrastructure.”