The Scottish Government

Scotland's Financial Services Industry

While it will be some time before we know what impact the international financial crisis will have on the size, shape and focus of Scotland's financial services industry going forward, the information below illustrates the significant growth and continued contribution of the industry.

It is in this period of unprecedented turbulence and change for the global financial services industry that this fourth year Annual Report has been published. Notwithstanding this challenging environment, the strengths that Scotland has long had in financial services remains. Although output has fallen from its peak in 2007, output in the last quarter of 2008 was 92 per cent higher than at the start of 1998 - a substantially greater percentage increase than the wider Scottish economy average and the Scottish service sector average over the same time. The industry continues to attract investment and expansion from both indigenous and overseas-owned companies. Therefore, the financial services industry continues to be one of the most important in Scotland's economy, with the sector performing strongly against UK and international benchmarks.

The financial services industry continues to make a vital contribution to the strength of Scotland's economy, to our quality of life and to our growing international reputation as a world class location for business. It contributes around eight per cent to Scottish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Scottish economy. Since 1998, GDP in Scotland's financial services industry has almost doubled its output, increasing by 92 per cent in real terms, compared to 86 per cent across UK financial services and 22 per cent across the Scottish economy as a whole over the same period.

Strategy for the Financial Services Industry in Scotland

In 2005, the government, together with the industry and the trade unions, published a Strategy for the Financial Services Industry in Scotland. This set out an ambitious vision for an innovative, competitive and thriving financial services industry, underpinned by world class infrastructure and universally acknowledged as a leader on the global stage.

A First Year Implementation Plan was published alongside the Strategy.

The first Annual Report was published on May 15, 2006.

On 1 June 2009, on behalf of the Financial Services Advisory Board (FiSAB), John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth and John Campbell OBE (FiSAB Industry Deputy Chair and Chairman of Scottish Financial Enterprise) jointly presented the 2009 Annual Report of the Strategy. This sets out:

• A summary of achievements in the fourth year of the Strategy.
• Comparative data on the progress made by the financial services industry in Scotland.
• An outline of plans for year five and beyond.