BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 94

Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) weighted Scotland estimates containing data to wave 94


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

  • in the period 16 October to 29 October 2023 (Wave 94), 25.4% of businesses reported experiencing a shortage of workers – down from 31.5% in the previous wave and the lowest percentage reported since the question was introduced in October 2021
  • in Wave 94, the industry sectors with the highest rates of worker shortages were Construction (38.7%) and Accommodation & Food Services (37.9%)
  • the main concerns for businesses for November 2023 were energy prices (21.8%), falling demand (14.0%) and inflation of goods and services prices (12.3%)
  • of businesses currently trading that have exported in the last 12 months, 19.1% reported exporting more in September 2023 compared to September 2022, and 17.4% reported exporting less
  • the exporting and importing challenges that were most commonly reported to have increased in September 2023 were change in transportation costs and additional paperwork – this was the case for both exporting and importing

Contact

For enquiries about this publication please contact:

Marina Curran

Business & Innovation Statistics

Office of the Chief Economic Adviser

e-mail: industrystatistics@gov.scot
 

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:

Office of the Chief Statistician

e-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

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