Scotland’s onshore GDP grew 0.6% in March, but UK quarterly growth was six times the Scottish rolling rate

By Scottish Business News editorial
Published 28 May 2026

Scotland’s onshore economy grew by 0.6% in March 2026, the strongest monthly reading since last autumn, according to figures from the Scottish Government’s Office of the Chief Economic Adviser published on Wednesday. Over the rolling three months to March, Scotland’s real onshore GDP grew by 0.1%, after no change in either of the two preceding rolling three-month periods, High Growth Scotland reported on 28 May.

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The March figure rescued an opening quarter that had begun with two consecutive monthly contractions — 0.1% in January and 0.2% in February — before reversing both declines in a single month. Services grew 0.2% over the three-month period and construction expanded 0.4%, while production contracted 0.5%. Retail, Wholesale and Motor Trades made the largest positive sector contribution to the headline figure; manufacturing was the largest drag.

The Scottish rolling three-month reading of 0.1% sits alongside the Office for National Statistics’ quarter-on-quarter estimateof 0.6% UK GDP growth for Q1 2026, published on 14 May. The two figures are not constructed on an identical basis, but the contrast is wide enough that High Growth Scotland flagged the divergence as warranting attention from investors and operators tracking Scottish growth conditions against the wider UK picture.

The next monthly Scottish GDP release, covering April 2026, is expected from the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser in late June.