Scottish Annual Business Statistics 2020

Main Sectors

In 2020, approximate Gross Value Added at basic prices (aGVA) of the non-financial business economy was estimated to be £80.8 billion. This is a decrease of 19.0% compared with 2019. This steep decrease reflects the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy in 2020.

Figure 1: Between 2019 and 2020, aGVA decreased for all four of the main sectors of the non-financial business economy. Services aGVA was down by 16.6%, Primary Industries down by 29.0%, Manufacturing down by 15.4% and Construction down by 17.9%.

Services Sector

In 2020, the Services sector accounted for an estimated £49.3 billion of the total non-financial business economy aGVA (61.0%). Between 2019 and 2020, aGVA in the Services sector decreased by £9.8 billion (-16.6%). 

Figure 2: Within Services, the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation sector saw the largest year-on-year aGVA percentage decrease, with aGVA decreasing by 47.4% between 2019 and 2020.

Primary Industries

In 2020, the Primary Industries sector accounted for an estimated £14.0 billion of total non-financial business economy aGVA (17.3%).

Between 2019 and 2020, aGVA in the Primary Industries sector decreased by £5.7 billion (-29.0%).  The industry division contributing most to the sector decrease was Extraction of Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas (division 6) (-£5.6 billion). 

Note that data for division 6 includes off-shore oil and gas activity; off-shore activity, under UK regional accounts procedures, is normally allocated to a separate ‘Extra Regio’ category rather than allocated to a region within the UK. 

Manufacturing Sector

In 2020, the Manufacturing sector accounted for an estimated £11.0 billion of the total non-financial business economy aGVA (13.6%). Between 2019 and 2020, aGVA in the Manufacturing sector decreased by £2.0 billion (-15.4%). 

Figure 3: Within Manufacturing, the Manufacture of Furniture division saw the largest year-on-year aGVA percentage decrease, with aGVA decreasing by 47.1% between 2019 and 2020.

Construction Sector

In 2020, the Construction sector accounted for an estimated £6.6 billion of total non-financial business economy aGVA (8.1%).  Between 2019 and 2020, aGVA in the Construction sector decreased by £1.4 billion (-17.9%).

Within Construction, the Construction of Buildings division saw the largest year-on-year aGVA percentage decrease, with aGVA decreasing by 33.9% between 2019 and 2020.