Economy

Scottish shopper footfall experienced a significant rebound in April, largely driven by the Easter holiday period falling within the month, in contrast to March 2024.

The Scottish salmon industry has called for further negotiations with the United States to eliminate a 10% tariff on its exports, following the newly announced UK-US trade deal. Salmon Scotland, the trade body for the UK's largest food export, voiced concerns that the existing tariff will continue t

The UK government has secured a trade agreement with the United States, providing some relief from punitive tariffs recently imposed by President Donald Trump. The pact, announced by President Trump and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, will see cuts to tariffs on UK car and steel exports. However

A one-day trade mission to Scotland, led by Ireland's minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Niamh Smyth, has concluded, focusing on strengthening economic links between Ireland and Scotland. The visit to Edinburgh and Glasgow prioritises strengthening trade ties

UK Business and Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds (right) welcomes Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal (left) to London for trade talks The United Kingdom and India have concluded a significant trade deal aimed at bolstering economic growth and increasing prosperity in both natio

Scotland's onshore economy experienced a slight contraction in February 2025, with GDP falling by 0.2%, according to official statistics. This followed upwardly revised growth of 0.4% in January, up from 0.3%.

The EY ITEM Club has downgraded its GDP growth expectations for 2025 to 0.8%, down from the 1% predicted in February’s Winter Forecast, and has revised its 2026 forecast down from 1.6% to 0.9%. While the start of 2025 appeared to show economic momentum building, the weaker global economy and m

UK government borrowing has exceeded official forecasts in March and for the full 2024-2025 fiscal year, intensifying pressure on public finances amidst a challenging economic outlook compounded by US tariffs. Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed a shortfall between gov

The percentage of Scottish small businesses predicting growth has fallen to a four-year low (29%), according to new figures from Novuna Business Finance.  The current position stands in stark contrast to last summer, which saw a period of stability in Scottish growth outlook.

Edinburgh's Smart Data Foundry has launched the Economic Wellbeing Explorer, a platform offering unprecedented insight into financial hardship across Scotland. Using near real-time data from 5.3 million bank accounts, the Explorer tracks economic resilience and wellbeing at national, regional, and l

UK inflation fell to 2.6% in March, dropping from 2.8% in February and below City forecasts of 2.7%, intensifying pressure on the Bank of England to consider cutting interest rates at its meeting next month. The Office for National Statistics attributed the lower rate primarily to falling fuel

The UK economy showed unexpected strength in February, with GDP expanding by 0.5% – significantly outpacing economists' forecasts of 0.1% growth.

US President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs could cost the UK economy nearly £22 billion over the next two years, according to analysis by KPMG. The economists predict a potential US trade war would reduce UK economic output by 0.8% by 2027, leaving the country £21.6bn worse off and add

Scotland’s known public sector procurement spend in 2022-23 delivered an estimated 120,000 full-time equivalent jobs and £7.5 billion to Scottish GDP, according to new figures. The sixth annual report on procurement activity in Scotland shows that known procurement spend generated an est

Over a third of Scottish mid-market businesses have said that they expect to be directly affected ‘to a significant extent’ by the US Government tariffs, according to the latest survey from BDO. Its survey of 500 mid-market businesses conducted between 24 March and 2 April -  before