A Trading Nation - Updating Scotland's Country and Sector Prioritisation

1. Overview of Analytical Framework

The Scottish Government published its plan for growing Scotland’s exports, Scotland: A Trading Nation in May 2019. The strategy was evidence-based with quantitative analysis conducted by the Scottish Government’s Office of the Chief Economic Adviser (OCEA). The analysis resulted in a priority list of Scotland’s trading partner countries and sectors. Details of the methodology can be found in the analytical methodology note^[1].

This paper provides an update to the country and sector prioritisation that underpinned A Trading Nation. Using updated statistics from domestic and international trade, business and economy datasets, the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser (OCEA) produced an updated list and graphic of priority markets and sectors. This can be found in Figure 1 below. The updated priority sector list can be found in Figure 2 below.

A major part of this work was updating Scotland’s trade data tool – the Export Value Gap - which benchmarks Scotland’s export performance in market-sector combinations against competitor countries to better understand where Scotland’s exports are performing well against its peers and where opportunities for growth exist. This tool helped shape the initial Export Plan and the focus of activity.

This quantitative research provided a strong foundation which was constructively challenged by country specific qualitative research by policy officials that considered eight forward-looking issues that could have a bearing on future international demand for Scottish goods and exports.

This combined analysis was shared and assessed in a comprehensive consultation exercise with many key business and delivery partners, to ensure the conclusions drawn reflected their real-world experience.

Priority Markets

Americas

Canada

USA

Europe

Belgium

Denmark

France

Germany

Ireland

Italy

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Indo-Pacific

Australia

China

India

Japan

Middle East

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Special Interest Markets

Americas

Brazil

Mexico

Europe

Ukraine

Indo-Pacific

Indonesia

Singapore

South Korea

Figure 2: Sector Priority List

Sector

Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing

Food and Drink

Transport Equipment

Technology, Digital and Media

Energy

Chemical Sciences

Financial and Business Services