Scottish productivity growth outstrips rest of UK

Productivity in Scotland continued to outperform the UK during 2015, according to latest official data.

Statistics published today show that output per hour worked in Scotland – a measure of how much output the economy produces in each working hour – greew 3.5 per cent in 2015, compared to a UK figure of 0.9 per cent.

Over the longer term, output per hour worked is now 9.4 per cent higher in real terms than in 2007, prior to the recession.

In 2015, UK productivity was only 0.1 per cent higher than its 2007 level.

Scottish productivity has now effectively caught up with UK levels - increasing from 94.5 per cent of the UK average output per hour in 2007 to 99.9 per cent in 2015.

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Constitution Derek Mackay, said: “These figures show that Scotland’s productivity performance has grown around four times faster than the UK, providing further evidence of Scotland’s economic strength. Scotland is now matching UK levels of productivity.

“Output per hour worked in Scotland has grown 3.5 per cent in 2015, compared to a UK figure of 0.9 per cent, and is 9.4 per cent higher than in 2007 before the start of the recession. This is very welcome news and - through our commitment in our Economic Strategy to supporting innovation, increasing skills and improving our infrastructure – we will continue to work to improve this further.

“The EU referendum result has led to some business uncertainty and we will continue to do what we can to address this, including taking forward our £500m Scottish Growth Scheme, by investing in our infrastructure plan and by supporting our universities and research base. We will also continue to support the Scottish economy by protecting our place in Europe’s single market - with the substantial benefits this will have for our economic well-being.”