Scottish public spending deficit grows as oil revenue drops again

Scotland’s public spending deficit has increased, with North Sea oil and gas revenue falling for the second year in a row, official figures show.

The latest annual Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) report looks at taxes raised from people and businesses in Scotland and government spending for and on behalf of Scotland.

It found the difference in 2024-25 was £26.5bn, which was up from £21.4bn in the previous financal year.

The amount of money spent on public services and benefits in Scotland last year (£21,192) was nearly £2,700 higher per person than it was for the UK as a whole (£18,523).

The total spending by Scottish, Westminster and local governments in Scotland – as well as a share of spending on shared provision such as defence and debt – came to £117.6bn.

All the revenue raised from Scots totalled £91.4bn – reflecting a reduction in tax revenue last year from oil and gas production.

As a share of all the output from the economy, that takes the deficit if Scotland had separate public finances to 11.7%, while the equivalent figure for the UK was 5.1%

Gers is a National Statistics publication and is prepared by Scottish government officials independently of ministers.

It estimates the amount of revenue raised through tax collected from people living in Scotland by both the Scottish and UK governments, and the amount that is spent by governments in and for Scotland.

That includes reserved spending such as the state pension, devolved spending such as the health service, and a share of spending that may take place in the rest of the UK or overseas on behalf of Scots, such as the armed forces and UK embassies.

The difference between revenue and spending is called the “net fiscal balance” – commonly referred to as the deficit.