Scottish Government
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Scotland's Global Connections Survey 2008
The results of Scotland's Global Connections Survey 2008 were released today by Scotland's Chief Statistician. The figures provide an estimate of the cash value of Scotland's exports of goods and services, by industry and destination. This is the only export survey covering all sectors of the Scottish economy. Companies provided sales and export information relating to 2008.
Main Findings
- Scottish international exports in 2008 (excluding oil and gas) are provisionally estimated at £20.7 billion, of which £14 billion is attributable to manufacturing sector companies. This represents an increase in overall exports of £1.7 billion since 2007, due to a rise in the manufacturing sector exports of £935 million and a rise in service sector exports of £715 million.
- The top five exporting industries in 2008 were chemicals (including refined petroleum products) (£3.5 billion), food and beverages (£3.4 billion), business services (£2.3 billion), the wholesale, retail and accommodation sector (£1.4 billion), and manufacture of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified (£1.4 billion). Together these industries accounted for well over half of total exports from Scotland.
- The USA continues to be Scotland's top export destination with an estimated £3.1 billion of exports in 2008, an increase of £325 million since 2007. Exports to Netherlands decreased by £40 million in 2008, estimated to be worth £1.6 billion making it Scotland's second top export destination.
- An estimated £9.5 billion of all Scottish exports were destined for the EU. Within the EU, the Netherlands was the largest market, followed by France (£1.5 billion exports in 2008).
These published estimates relate to exports to destinations outside the UK. Estimates of intra UK trade for the same period 2002 to 2008, will be available concurrently.
Estimates from the Global Connections Survey are provided in current prices and have not been adjusted to account for deflation. The quarterly Index of Manufactured Exports provides a time series of the real term growth of export sales in the manufacturing industry.
