Scottish Economy Grows But Lags Behind Uk Average

4th April 2018

The Scottish economy grew by 0.3% during the fourth quarter of 2017, according to statistics announced today by Scotland's Chief Statistician.

Change in gross domestic product (GDP) is the main indicator of economic growth in Scotland. The latest GDP statistics, covering the period October to December 2017, show that the economy grew by 0.3% in real terms compared to the previous quarter. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, the Scottish economy grew by 1.1%.

During the fourth quarter of 2017 output in the Services sector grew by 0.5%, output in Production grew by 0.9% and output in the Construction sector fell by 2.6%.

In 2017 as a whole, annual GDP increased by 0.8% compared to 2016.

On an annual basis the Scottish economy grew by 0.6 per cent between the third quarter of 2016 and the same period in 2017, while the UK economy increased by 1.7 per cent.

Scotland's GDP per person, which is adjusted to account for changes in the size of the population, increased by 0.2% during the fourth quarter of 2017.