BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 69

This is the 54th publication of weighted Scotland estimates from the ONS’ BICS. These are experimental statistics, which means that they are still in development. All results are provisional and subject to revision.

Latest main findings for businesses with 10+ employees and a presence in Scotland

• in Wave 69, difficulties in recruiting employees had been experienced by an estimated 42.5% of applicable businesses. The highest rates of recruitment difficulties were reported by businesses in the Administration & Support Services (53.3%) and Accommodation & Food Services (51.2%) industry sectors
• in Wave 69, 42.6% of businesses reported that the prices of materials, goods or services bought in October 2022 had increased from the previous calendar month. In contrast, only 19.9% of businesses reported that they had increased the price of goods or services sold
• the industry sectors with the highest proportion of businesses reporting increases in prices of materials, goods and services bought were Accommodation & Food Services (66.3%) and Wholesale, Retail & Repair of Vehicles (55.6%)
• in Wave 69, nearly half (49.1%) of applicable businesses reported that they had been affected by the recent increase in energy prices in some way
• an estimated 20.4% of businesses reported that their turnover had increased in October 2022 compared to September 2022. An estimated 22.5% of businesses reported that their turnover had decreased over this period – rising to 36.4% of businesses in the Accommodation & Food Services industry sector