BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 91

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

• in Wave 91, 41.9% of applicable businesses reported difficulties in recruiting employees in August. The highest rates of recruitment difficulties were reported by businesses in the Construction (51.8%) and Administration & Support Services (46.0%) industry sectors
• in Wave 91, 20.7% of businesses reported that the prices of materials, goods or services bought in August 2023 had increased compared with July 2023 – down from 27.7% in the previous month
• the industry sector with the highest proportion of businesses reporting increases in prices of materials, goods and services bought was Accommodation & Food Services (39.6% – down from 46.0% in the previous month)
• in Wave 91, 30.9% of businesses reported that their turnover had increased in August 2023 compared to the previous calendar month - rising to 40.0% of businesses in the Information & Communication industry sector and 37.6% in the Manufacturing industry sector. Overall, an estimated 17.7% of businesses reported that their turnover had decreased over this period
• in Wave 91, 38.5% of businesses thought their performance would increase over the next 12 months. 5.2% expected performance to decrease