Scots buck UK and Europe trends with surge in investment
Scotland bucked a UK and European trend by attracting a surge of foreign direct investment last year, with the nation cementing its status as one of the most desirable parts of the UK for investors, according to a new report.
EY, the accounting and consultancy firm, said Scotland secured 107 FDI projects in 2020, a 6 per cent increase on the previous year, with 61 new projects - a five-year high.
It comes as the number of UK FDI projects fell by 12 per cent from 1,109 to 974 over the same period. The same downturn saw projects across Europe drop by 13 per cent from 6,412 to 5,578.
Thethreeleadingsectorsgenerating inward investments intoscotlandin2020weredigitaltechnology(19projects),agrifood (14 projects) and business services.
The top performing sector in 2019 – machinery and equipment
– fell out of the top five, with four projects. Oil and gas ranked fourth with nine projects), with utility supply in fifth place with eight projects, underlining the continued importance of energy projects to the Scottish economy.
Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen were all ranked in the UK’S top ten cities for FDI projects outside London, with Edinburgh placed first.
The US remained the single biggest originator of overseas investment into Scotland, accounting for more than a third (35.5 per cent) of projects, followed by Ireland and the
Netherlands. However, the figures indicate that the number of Scottish jobs generated by the projects in 2020 was 4,499, down 30.1 per cent on the previous year.
Welcomingtheresearch,scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “It is great that overseas investmentinscotlandhasincreased, and that Edinburgh, Glasgow andaberdeenarefaringsowell. This is encouraging news.
"The UK government's sole focus is on our recovery from Covid, and boosting economic growth, jobs and prosperity across Scotland.
"We will accelerate investment in Scotland's infrastructure, building on our £1.5 billion city deals programme."ey’s Scotland Attractiveness Survey found that the increase in projects into Scotland within a shrinking UK marketplace saw Scotland’s share of all UK projects increase from 9.1 per cent in 2019 to 11 per cent in 2020.