BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 81

Exporting and Importing Challenges

The BICS asks businesses that are currently trading about how current conditions, including the end of the EU transition period, have impacted on their exporting and importing – the specific questions asked are shown below.

Question: How did your business's exporting compare with this calendar month last year?

• exported/imported more
• exporting/importing stayed the same
• exported/imported less
• business was unable to export / import
• not sure

Figure 3: Of businesses currently trading that have exported in the last 12 months, 16.9% reported exporting less in March 2023 compared to March 2022, and 15.8% reported exporting more.

Source: Office for National Statistics – BICS – Weighted Scotland Estimates – Wave 81

Currently trading businesses that have exported or imported in the last 12 months, and reported on how exporting compared to the previous year, were asked if they had experienced an increase in exporting/importing challenges over the last month.

Figure 4: The challenges that were most commonly reported to have increased in March 2023 were additional paperwork and changes in transportation costs– this was the case for both exporting and importing. However, an estimated 53.6% of exporters and 52.9% of importers reported that they did not experience an increase in exporting/importing challenges in March 2023 compared with February 2023.

Source: Office for National Statistics – BICS – Weighted Scotland Estimates – Wave 81

Businesses that reported challenges to exporting/importing were asked about the main cause of these exporting/importing challenges.

Figure 5: In Wave 81, 43.8% of applicable exporters reported that the end of the EU transition period was the main cause of their exporting challenges.  This was also the most frequently reported cause of importing challenges (54.6%). The end of the EU transition period combined with the COVID-19 pandemic was reported as the main cause of challenges for a further 13.0% of exporters and 17.3% of importers.  

Source: Office for National Statistics – BICS – Weighted Scotland Estimates – Wave 81

Businesses were also asked about the cost of exporting/importing and time spent on exporting/importing in March 2023 compared with March 2022.

Figure 6: Over half (54.4%) of applicable businesses reported that the cost of exporting has increased in March 2023 compared with March 2022.  A similar share (53.1%) reported that the cost of importing has increased over this period.

Source: Office for National Statistics – BICS – Weighted Scotland Estimates – Wave 81

An estimated 56.8% of businesses reported that time spent on exporting had stayed the same in March 2023 compared with March 2022.  An estimated 27.5% of businesses reported that time spent on exporting has increased over this period.

Over half (54.4%) of businesses reported that the time spent on importing has stayed the same in March 2023 compared with March 2022.  A further 24.8% of businesses reported that time spent on importing has increased over this period.