The economy in Scotland has grown in the latest three months for which data are available, in contrast to contraction in overall UK output.

Figures published by the Scottish Government show Scotland’s onshore gross domestic product rose by 0.2%, comparing the August to October period with the preceding three months. This contrasts with a 0.1% decline in UK GDP over the same timeframe.

Scotland’s economy grew over this period in spite of a 0.2% month-on-month decline in onshore GDP in October, following 0.7% growth in September and contraction of 0.2% in August. UK GDP fell by 0.1% month-on-month in October.

Comparing the three months to October with the May to July period, Scotland’s services sector is calculated to have grown by 0.3%, with production output flat. Construction sector output in Scotland contracted by 0.3% during the three months to October.

Highlighting the challenges of Brexit, Ms Forbes said: “It is encouraging that Scotland’s three-monthly GDP performance is showing growth, in contrast to a contraction across the UK as a whole.”

Scottish business investment has climbed to a 20-year high as a percentage of economic output, a report published last week by the Confederation of British Industry in Scotland and law firm Addleshaw Goddard and compiled by the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute showed.

The Scottish productivity index 2025 report observed: “For the first year since 2005, Scotland now exceeds its long-term trend – 1998 to 2023 – of 9.8%. Conversely, the UK overall is 0.6 percentage points below its long-term trend of 10.1%.”

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The report noted the UK overall experienced a 0.3-percentage-point decline in business investment as a share of GDP from 9.8% in 2022 to 9.5% in 2023.

It also showed Scotland leads the UK nations in higher-level qualifications with nearly 54% of the working-age population educated to this level, compared with 47% in England, 42% in Northern Ireland, and 44% in Wales.

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A spokesman for the CBI noted: “Higher-level means ‘higher education certificate or above’ [and] refers to RQF (Regulated Qualifications Framework)/NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) 4 equivalent and above…for example, HND, degree and higher degree level qualifications or equivalent.”

Ms Forbes said: “The annual Scottish productivity index published last week also showed the strength of the country’s economy. Real progress is being made in areas in which the Scottish Government holds full powers, including educational attainment and business investment – which has risen to a 20-year high in contrast to a fall across the UK.”

She added: “It is disappointing that no serious support for jobs and industry was delivered by the UK Government at the UK Budget last month. A step change is required to take action to address the challenges facing business every day – from Brexit to increases to employers’ national insurance contributions to energy bills which remain too high.”