Scotland's International Goods Trade: Quarter 3 2023
This report contains Scotland's trade in goods data from the latest release of HMRC's Regional Trade Statistics (RTS).
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Compared to the previous year, the value of Scotland’s goods imports decreased by 8.3% (£2.9 billion) to £32.3 billion in the year ending September 2023, whereas the UK overall saw a small increase (up 2.2%). The decrease for Scotland was largely driven by a fall in the value of imports of gas (down 35.0%, £3.7 billion), and office machinery (down 23.2%, £625 million). The majority of the decline for gas was due to a reduction in the value of gas imports from Norway. The volume of gas imports for Scotland overall only decreased by 0.7% over this period, suggesting a reduction in the price of gas is largely responsible for the decline. On the other hand there was a large increase in the value of imports of power generating machinery (up 35.8% over this period).
Unlike overall imports, EU imports increased by 11.4%, whereas imports from non-EU countries decreased by 17.1% during this period. This reduction in non-EU imports is in large part due to the decrease in the value of gas imports from Norway. Norway was still the top country for Scotland’s goods imports, accounting for a quarter (21%) of the value of Scotland’s goods imports in the year ending September 2023 despite the considerable drop of £3.7 billion seen in gas imports from Norway. In contrast, the value of gas imports from the USA increased by 85.6% over this period with a corresponding increase in the volume.
Table 8. The value of Scotland’s international goods imports by UK nation, £ billions, year ending (YE) September (Q3) 2019, 2022, 2023
|
UK Nation |
YE Q3 2019 |
YE Q3 2022 |
YE Q3 2023 |
YE Q3 2019 v YE Q3 2023 (%) |
YE Q3 2022 v YE Q3 2023 (%) |
|
Scotland |
25.2 |
35.2 |
32.3 |
28.2% |
-8.3% |
|
Scotland (exc. Oil & Gas) |
21.7 |
22.9 |
23.8 |
9.6% |
3.9% |
|
England |
398.8 |
454.4 |
458.9 |
15.1% |
1.0% |
|
Wales |
18.4 |
22.8 |
22.0 |
19.6% |
-3.4% |
|
Northern Ireland |
8.1 |
9.2 |
9.7 |
19.7% |
6.0% |
|
United Kingdom |
495.1 |
598.9 |
611.8 |
23.6% |
2.2% |
|
United Kingdom (exc. Oil & Gas) |
451.0 |
500.2 |
531.5 |
17.9% |
6.3% |
Source: HMRC RTS, Q3 2023
Figure 12. The value of goods imports from non-EU countries has been volatile since the end of 2021
Value (£ billion) of Scotland’s goods imports from EU and non-EU countries (quarterly), Q1 2018 to Q3 2023
Source: HMRC RTS, Q3 2023
Table 9. The value of Scotland’s top ten imported goods, £ billions, year ending (YE) September (Q3) 2019, 2022, 2023
|
Product |
YE Q3 2019 |
YE Q3 2022 |
YE Q3 2023 |
YE Q3 2019 v YE Q3 2023 (%) |
YE Q3 2022 v YE Q3 2023 (%) |
|
Gas |
2.2 |
10.6 |
6.9 |
214.3% |
-35.0% |
|
Power generating machinery |
2.3 |
2.4 |
3.2 |
42.5% |
35.8% |
|
Office machinery |
3.0 |
2.7 |
2.1 |
-30.1% |
-23.2% |
|
Oil |
1.3 |
1.7 |
1.6 |
25.1% |
-6.6% |
|
General industrial machinery |
1.1 |
1.0 |
1.3 |
18.6% |
23.6% |
|
Electrical machinery & appliances |
0.9 |
1.0 |
1.2 |
25.2% |
16.6% |
|
Other transport equipment |
1.3 |
0.8 |
1.2 |
-10.9% |
38.6% |
|
Road vehicles |
0.5 |
1.0 |
1.2 |
146.3% |
14.0% |
|
Apparel & clothing |
1.0 |
0.9 |
1.0 |
-5.2% |
2.0% |
|
Manufactures of metal |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.9 |
31.7% |
28.4% |
Source: HMRC RTS, Q3 2023
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