Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS): Methodology Publication 2025-26

These documents relate to the main publication of Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) 2025-26. 

An Accredited Official Statistics Publication for Scotland

These statistics are accredited official statistics. The Office for Statistics Regulation has independently reviewed and accredited these statistics as complying with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

GERS is classified as Accredited Official Statistics and is produced in accordance with the principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics. More information about Accredited Official Statistics, including the latest assessment report on GERS (number 274), is available on the UK Statistics Authority website.

Statistics on Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland – Office for Statistics Regulation

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Scottish Government statistics are regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

More information about Scottish Government statistics is available on the Scottish Government website.

Introduction

The estimates of Scottish public sector expenditure and revenue in GERS are based on two key principles:

• Public sector expenditure is estimated on the basis of spending incurred to provide services for residents and enterprises in Scotland
• Public sector revenue is estimated for taxes and other sources of revenue where a financial burden is imposed on residents and enterprises in Scotland

Methodology documents for previous versions can be found in the GERS statistics archive.