THE Scottish economy has continued to grow with gross domestic product (GDP) rising 0.9 per cent in the second quarter of the year.
Official figures, published yesterday, show the dominant services sector grew by 0.9 per cent between April and June with construction increasing 3.6 per cent and production by 0.3 per cent.
On an annual basis GDP was 2.6 per cent ahead of the same quarter in 2013.
The latest result means the Scottish economy has now grown for eight quarters in a row with the rate in 2014 equal to or higher than that for the UK as a whole.
Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: "We are also beginning to see evidence, confirmed by the International Monetary Fund last week, that our economy is achieving a heathier balance between growth led by consumer demand and growth led by business investment.
"Expectations are that the rate of growth we have experienced in the first six months of the year may not quite be replicated in the second half of the year, but nonetheless this latest rise in GDP is an extremely positive sign that the Scottish economy has the potential to sustain growth over the medium term.
"Threats remain, however, not least as a result of the downgrades to the economic outlooks of the eurozone, Russia, the Middle East and Japan."
The Fiscal Affairs Scotland think tank said the latest data means Scottish GDP is now 1.1 per cent higher than the peak achieved in the second quarter of 2008, while the UK is four per cent ahead of the peak in the same period.
The National Statistics report showed business services and finance activity was up two per cent between April and June this year. There was also growth in transport, storage and communication, distribution, hotels and catering.
In the production sector mining and quarrying led the way although there was contraction the electricity and gas supply and manufacturing segments. The 0.4 per cent contraction in manufacturing was attributed to two per cent lower petrol, chemical and pharmaceutical production along with a 1.9 per cent fall in food, beverage and tobacco production.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article