BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 130

Business Concerns

In the period 7 April to 20 April 2025, the BICS asked businesses about their main concerns for May 2025.

Figure 1: The main concerns for businesses for May 2025 were taxation (16.3%) and falling demand of goods and services (14.7%); an estimated 15.4% of business had no concerns.

Estimated share of businesses by main concern for May 2025. Businesses not permanently stopped trading, with 10+ employees and a presence in Scotland. Wave 130.

Source: BICS weighted Scotland estimates - data to Wave 130 from the Scottish Government. For Figure 1 data see table ‘BusinessConcern’.

Small to medium sized businesses (10 to 249 employees) were more likely to be concerned about taxation than large businesses (250+ employees). Taxation was the main concern for an estimated 17.4% of small to medium sized businesses, compared to 5.6% of large businesses. Concern over falling demand of good and services was broadly similar for the two size categories. This was the main concern for an estimated 14.8% of small to medium sized businesses, compared to 13.1% of large businesses.