Meeting of the Parliament 08 September 2015
Today’s debate provides an opportunity to reflect on the current strength of Scotland’s economy. I would also like to use the debate to outline the approach that the Scottish Government and the wider public sector are taking to building a Scottish economy that is characterised by inclusive growth and the creation of opportunities for everyone in Scotland to realise their full potential.
The debate takes place against a backdrop of strong economic performance in Scotland. That is confirmed in the latest “State of the Economy” report from the Scottish Government’s chief economist, which highlights that the Scottish economy has now experienced 11 consecutive quarters of growth. That is our economy’s longest period of uninterrupted economic growth since 2001. It also demonstrates the underlying resilience of the Scottish economy in the context of the difficult external and domestic challenges that have continued to be experienced during the recent period.
The latest data for the first quarter of this year recorded growth across each of the main sectors of the economy. There has been particularly strong performance in the construction sector, which has been underpinned by our programme of continuing infrastructure investment. The fact that there has been an expansion of 21 per cent in the sector’s activities is a measure of the significance of the capital works that are under way in Scotland, an example of which—the Borders railway—has just been referred to.
At the same time, consumption has been buoyed by factors such as high employment and low inflation. Gross domestic product per capita is a key measure of our economic strength, and by the first quarter of this year, Scottish GDP per head had recovered to just 0.2 per cent below pre-recession levels, whereas in the same quarter GDP per head for the United Kingdom as a whole remained 0.6 per cent below its pre-recession peak .
On employment, the picture is also encouraging. Our employment rate is above that of the UK, while youth unemployment is at its lowest level in six years. Our performance also ranks favourably in a European context—we have the second-highest female employment rate and the third-highest youth employment rate in the European Union.
Our strong economic performance is expected to continue, with the consensus being that growth of around 2.4 per cent is forecast in Scotland this year. That recent trend picks up on a longer-term story of improvement. For example, the value of our international exports increased by around 40 per cent between 2007 and 2013. In recent years, we have consolidated our position as the UK’s most successful area outside London in attracting inward investment. As a result, over the past 10 years Scotland has secured more than 37,000 jobs from foreign direct investment.