Small Business Survey Scotland: 2022-2023

Trade Activities

• 13 per cent of SME employers had exported goods or services outside of the UK in the previous 12 months

Figure 1: The most popular location for SME employers to export to was the European Union, with 80 per cent of exporters selling there.

Destination of international exports (2022-23). Multiple answers allowed to this question.

Source: Small Business Survey Scotland 2022-2023 from DBT and Scottish Government. For Figure 1 data, see table ‘C2c’.

• 82 per cent of exporters sold to non-EU countries. Most SME exporters (63 per cent) sold to both EU and non-EU countries
• 43 per cent of SME employers had sold goods, services or licensed their product to the rest of the UK
• 24 per cent of SME employers had directly imported goods or services from countries outside the UK in the previous 12 months
• 19 per cent of SME employers imported from EU countries, while 17 per cent bought from non-EU countries

Figure 2: More than half of SME employers who imported (53 per cent) bought from both EU and non-EU countries.

Import Sources by SME employers (2022-23).

Source: Small Business Survey Scotland 2022-2023 from DBT and Scottish Government. For Figure 2 data, see tables ‘C2gii’, ‘C2giii’ and ‘C2giv’.

• 65 per cent of SME employers imported goods or services from the rest of the UK