Export Statistics Scotland is a National Statistic, certified by the UK Statistics Authority as compliant with its [Code of Practice for Official Statistics](https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/).
These statistics are published in the [Export Statistics Scotland](https://www.gov.scot/publications/exports-statistics-scotland-2021/) National Statistics publication. The data is published in Excel format and is also available as an accessible html publication.
Company specific details and any data from which it might be possible to identify individual companies will not be published.
There is no UK survey which compares exactly with Export Statistics Scotland. The [methodology note of the ESS publication](https://www.gov.scot/publications/export-statistics-scotland-methodology/pages/other-sources-of-trade-data/) provides charts and commentary comparing Export Statistics Scotland export estimates with other UK and Scottish sources.
Following the collection of data on exports, the data are cleaned and quality assured by Scottish Government statisticians. Outputs are subject to rigorous quality assurance and where possible other sources are used to review figures.
The publication is normally released in January in each year. However the ESS 2019 publication was delayed due to the postponement of the 2019 Global Connections Survey (GCS), which is one of the key sources for this data. This was done in recognition of the challenges and pressures faced by businesses in dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic and preparing for EU exit. This has impacted the timing of subsequent publications. To reduce the delay, ESS 2020 and 2021 were published together for the first time.
The data are of interest to government policy makers, politicians, the business community, economic commentators, academics and members of the general public with an interest in the Scottish economy.
The Scottish Government produces a National Statistics publication, Export Statistics Scotland, which estimates the nominal value of Scottish exports (excluding oil and gas) at sector level. It includes estimates for goods and service exports and is the only source of estimates for exports from Scotland to the rest of the UK.