Scottish Secretary Alister Jack responds to February 2022 GDP

Figures for Scotland’s GDP for February 2022 have been published here today.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:

The UK Government-funded vaccine and booster programme is enabling us to live with Covid while protecting our most vulnerable, but we are acutely aware of the new global challenges our economy faces, including from the war in Ukraine.

Our priority remains on a strong and steady recovery and we are helping to tackle the rising cost of living.

We’ve introduced a package of measures worth £22 billion this financial year. That includes boosting take-home pay by raising the National Insurance threshold and ploughing £9.1 billion into our energy support package – with £290 million in Barnett Consequentials funding council tax rebates in Scotland. That’s in addition to the record £41 billion per year funding settlement for the Scottish Government for next three years.

We can, and will, level up all areas of the UK and build back better from these troubled times.

Scotland saw an estimated GDP increase of 0.4% in February, and is now 1.3% above the pre-coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic levels seen in February 2020. Scottish economic output rebounded at the start of 2022 after a fall at the end of 2021.

UK GDP increased 0.1% in February and is 1.5% above its pre-pandemic levels.