Annual Business Survey
Financial and employment data by broad industry by year. Annual Business Survey (ABS) provides data mainly on the Production (including Manufacturing), Construction and Service Sectors in Scotland. The statistics are best suited to the analysis of individual industries rather than the economy as a whole.
Data
Annual Business Survey
Description
Scottish Annual Business Statistics (SABS) data are mainly sourced to the Annual Business Survey and measures the non-financial business economy (which covers the Production, Construction and Service Sectors in Scotland). The main sectors not covered are the financial sector & parts of agriculture and the public sector. Data are classified according to industry group and geographical area. All figures are in current prices (i.e. values have not been adjusted for inflation).
Variables include employment, employees, turnover, purchases of goods & services, approximate gross value added (aGVA), gross wages & salaries, labour costs, total output and number of business units. GVA per head, gross wages & salaries per head and labour costs per head are also available.
Metadata
| Theme | Business, Enterprise and Energy |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Scottish Government |
| License | UK Open Government Licence (OGL) |
| Published | |
| Last updated | |
| Next update | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Update frequency | annual |
| Reference period | 2008 to 2023 |
| Geographic coverage | Council Areas, Country |
| Contact | industrystatistics@gov.scot |
Data quality
Completeness
For other Tables, commentary and more methodology please visit SABS website
Uniqueness
Not assessed
Consistency
Data can be compared between different industries, local authority areas and to look at trends over time.
For comparisons with other UK regions, please visit Office for National Statistics website
Timeliness
It is the aim to publish Scottish Annual Business Statistics as soon as feasible after the release of the Office for National Statistics' regional results.
Validity
The Annual Business Survey, from which the statistics are largely derived, covers approximately two thirds of the economy. The main sectors not covered are the financial sector & parts of agriculture and the public sector. These statistics are therefore best suited to the analysis of individual industries rather than the economy as a whole. Industries are compiled using Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 07) codes. A SIC code is allocated to a business site according to its main activity.
Accuracy
Please visit Quality Measures and Data Reliability in these methodology notes
Quality management
Standard Errors at Local Authority area level for 2012 to 2018 and 2020 to 2023 are available in the Tables published in SABS 2023 Please note that it was not possible to produce Standard Errors for 2019, for more information please visit Quality Measures in these methodology notes
Additional details
Revisions
Data is compiled from an annual survey. Please note that when a new year's Annual Business Survey (ABS) data is released, the previous year's data is revised at the same time.
Confidentiality policy
Any starred cell contains confidential data. This is data which has been withheld from publication in order that no information relating to an individual business is disclosed. Caution should therefore be exercised if summary data is calculated; it may include suppressed cells in which case it will not be a true representation of industry or area totals.