Scotch Whisky Worth £4billion To Scottish Economy

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The Scotch whisky industry makes nearly £4bn for the Scottish economy - and workers are three times as productive as bankers, a new report has claimed.

Staff are also six times as productive as the Scottish average - and the national drink now earns as much for the Scots economy as tourism does, research suggested.

The industry employs more than 10,000 workers with a gross income of £464m.

But it has a much wider economic impact through links with Scottish suppliers, investment in the country and through high street spending by workers in the production of the drink.

It supports around 35,000 extra jobs, which creates nearly £3.9bn each year in profits and wages - known as GVA - across the economy.

Whisky is one of the country's biggest exports, coming second to the oil and gas industry, according to the report for the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) by Verso Economics.


GVA per employee is just over £262,000, more than three times that of business and financial services in London.

Scotch Whisky's impact is 60% higher than Scotland's creative industries' GVA ( £2.4bn - including television, radio, publishing, film and software) and is similar to tourism ( £4bn).

Gavin Hewitt, SWA chief executive, said: "Scotch whisky's importance to Scotland is clear.

"The study confirms Scotch whisky is a cornerstone of the Scottish economy. That economic impact benefits every corner of Scotland."

Mr Hewitt urged the UK Government to support manufacturers and exporters by reforming the "unfair" alcohol tax system.