BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 84

This is the 67th 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 84, 40.9% of applicable businesses reported difficulties in recruiting employees in May. The highest rates of recruitment difficulties were reported by businesses in the Construction (50.3%) and Accommodation & Food Services (41.6%) industry sectors
• in Wave 84, 37.3% of businesses reported that the prices of materials, goods or services bought in May 2023 had increased compared with April 2023
• the industry sector with the highest proportion of businesses reporting increases in prices of materials, goods and services bought was Accommodation & Food Services (63.9%)
• in Wave 84, over half (54.7%) of applicable businesses reported that they had been affected by the recent increase in energy prices in some way
• in Wave 84, 31.0% of businesses reported that their turnover had increased in May 2023 compared to the previous calendar month. Whereas 13.3% of businesses reported that their turnover had decreased over this period – rising to 21.0% of businesses in the Transport & Storage industry sector
• in Wave 84, 39.7% of respondents thought their business’s performance would increase over the next 12 months. 6.4% expected performance to decrease