National Strategy for Economic Transformation: third annual report

Foreword

By Kate Forbes MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic and Co-Chair of the NSET Delivery Board

As we mark three and a half years since launching the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, our commitment to building a fairer, greener, and more prosperous Scotland remains resolute. Economic growth remains central to achieving the Scottish Government’s four key priorities: creating good jobs, tackling poverty, accelerating climate action, and sustaining vital public services.

Our delivery to date has been strong, thus far delivering 44% of actions contributing to the long-term ambitions set out in the strategy.

Transformation requires more than delivering individual actions. We continue to reassess the evidence base behind our policies to ensure their relevance and impact. For instance, recognising the rise in economic inactivity, we launched new cross-government interventions to reduce barriers to entering and progressing in employment. Similarly, in response to global trade disruptions, we are rolling out a new six-point export plan.

A personal area of focus has been making Scotland a destination of choice for investment. This has required close collaboration with enterprise agencies, local authorities, and other partners. Scotland’s Green Freeports are attracting early-stage investment. Sumitomo’s £350 million and Haventus’ £300 million commitments are being followed by further investments from Forth Ports (£50 million in Leith) and Mitsui at the Port of Nigg.

Our enterprise agencies have supported over 16,100 jobs and helped unlock £1.37 billion in planned capital investment. The Scottish National Investment Bank also played a key role—backing over 3,000 jobs and generating more than £168 million in local supply chain spend. In 2024, we secured our second-highest annual total of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, with 135 projects confirmed, reaffirming Scotland’s place as the UK’s top FDI destination outside London for over a decade.

This has all been achieved in the face of global economic volatility, which has tested our resilience. Despite these headwinds, Scotland has maintained a strong labour market with low unemployment and robust nominal wage growth.

Looking ahead, the global economic landscape will continue to shift, and our strategy must remain agile to meet new challenges and opportunities. Fair, green growth will continue to guide our work. From now on, the actions detailed in each Programme for Government will drive the delivery of this vision in practical, measurable ways.

With continued determination, we will remain focused on eradicating child poverty, growing our economy, tackling the climate emergency action, and strengthening public services for the people of Scotland.