Scottish overseas exports now worth over £8 billion

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, Mairi Gougeon has welcomed the publication of new HMRC trade statistics today showing overseas exports of Scottish food and drink were worth £8 billion in 2022 – the highest figure on record.

Ms Gougeon said:

“It is hugely welcome to see Scotland’s food and drink exports were worth a record £8.1 billion in 2022, up by almost a third (30.6%) on the previous year. This is testament to the quality, innovation and skill shown by everyone working in the industry across the length and breadth of Scotland.

“The statistics show food exports have risen to an all-time high of £1.9 billion – up 12.8% on 2021 – which is a fantastic achievement for our food sector, complementing another strong year for our drinks sector.

“The food and drink industry is vital to Scotland. It creates jobs, wealth and helps attract people to the country by promoting our produce around the globe. The Scottish Government has long supported the sector – particularly through the various challenges of the last few years caused by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing war in Ukraine and rising inflation. We have worked with industry to strengthen and unlock markets across the globe for Scottish producers through the Scotland Food & Drink Export Plan.

“These figures show the results of that successful collaboration between the private sector and industry.

“Meanwhile, it is also encouraging that Scotland’s international goods exports showed strong performances across a number of commodities. In fact, when excluding oil and gas, the value of Scotland’s goods exports increased by 20.5% in 2022 compared with 2021, which is greater than the 13.3% increase experienced by the UK as a whole. The EU market continues to be vitally important to Scotland’s trade, worth £9.4 billion in 2022.

“We will continue to focus on delivering our plan to grow exports and build on this progress, through the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.”

Background

HMRC’s Regional Trade Statistics