Scotland's international exports increased in 2017, up 6.2 percent
Staff Writer |
Scotland’s Chief Statistician released Export Statistics Scotland 2017, which provides estimates of the cash value of Scotland’s exports of goods and services, by industry and destination in 2017.
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These show that Scotland’s international exports (excluding oil and gas) increased by £1.9 billion (6.2 percent) to £32.4 billion in 2017.
This is the highest annual growth rate since 2011.
The latest statistics show strong performance for the manufacturing sector, driven by growth in exports of refined petroleum and chemical products, up £915 million (35.6 percent) and exports of computer, electronic and optical products, up £550 million (41.1 percent).
The food and beverages sector also contributed to the overall increase, with exports up £455 million (8.4 percent) to £5.9 billion in 2017, underpinned by strong whisky exports (£4.4 billion in 2017).
EU exports provided the majority of the growth in the value of international exports, increasing by £1.7 billion (13.3 percent) to £14.9 billion in 2017.
Scotland’s exports to non-EU countries grew at a slower rate, increasing by £145 million (0.8 percent) to £17.6 billion.
Scottish exports to the rest of the UK (excluding oil and gas) increased in 2017, up £2.2 billion (4.6 percent) to £48.9 billion.
This was driven by increased exports from the service sector, and in particular, exports of financial and insurance activities which increased by £1.2 billion (15.0 percent) to £9.1 billion.
Total international and rest of the UK exports in 2017 (excluding oil and gas) were estimated at £81.4 billion, up £4.1 billion (5.2 percent) from the previous year.
Exports to the rest of the UK accounted for 60 percent of this overall total, EU exports accounted for 18 percent and non-EU exports accounted for 22 percent.
The USA continues to be Scotland’s top international export destination country with an estimated £5.5 billion of exports of goods and services from Scotland in 2017.
Within the EU, the Netherlands (£2.5 billion) continues to be the largest market, followed by France (£2.4 billion) and Germany (£2.3 billion) in 2017. ■
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