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The annual Scottish Government report on its revenue and spending, known as GERS, has been a lightning rod for controversy since it became part of the debate around Scotland’s independence referendum in 2014.
GERS, which stands for ‘government expenditure and revenue Scotland’, is usually published in August every year, and has played a big part in the economic arguments for and against Scottish independence, with campaigners on both sides making claims relating to the report.
This year was no different, with disagreements online about what the report actually showed dominating online discussion.
Ferret Fact Service explains.
The GERS report shows how much revenue was raised for Scotland’s public sector. This mostly comes from devolved and reserved taxes such as income tax, stamp duty and national insurance, as well as the geographical share of money raised through levies on the north sea energy industry.
It also estimates the amount of money spent on things like public services, social security, defence and servicing government debt, as well as capital spending on construction of roads, hospitals, and schools, for example.
The report is produced by Scottish Government statisticians, and is independent of ministers.
When Scotland’s spending outstrips revenues brought in, the difference between these two figures is the public sector deficit. In 2024-25, this was £26.2bn, up from £21.4bn the previous year.
Newspapers and online commentators in favour of independence stated that the report showed that Scottish Government revenue was growing faster than expenditure, which would indicate that the country’s finances were heading in the right direction. But this was questioned by many online, who said this was a misleading reading of the report’s contents.
The claim that Scottish Government revenue was growing faster than expenditure was first made in a press release on the government’s website on 13 August, published alongside the GERS release.
It stated that “devolved revenue grows faster than expenditure”, and that Scotland’s revenue was enough to cover “all day-to-day devolved spending and all reserved social security, including the state pension”.
The figures behind the claim that Scottish Government revenue is growing faster than spending come from looking at devolved expenditure, which is estimated in the report. This is all of the costs associated with services and day-to-day expenses that are under the control of the Scottish Government, like the NHS, or policing, for example.
Between 2023-24 and 2024-25 this increased from £67.5bn to £72.1bn, a 6.8 per cent increase. This is then compared to the difference in the amount raised from devolved taxes over the same period. This increased by 9.7 per cent (from £23.9bn to £26.2bn).
Despite this increase in revenues, the report shows that Scotland’s overall revenue was not enough to cover its expenditure.
Looking at the devolved revenue and expenditure subset of Scotland’s economy also does not reflect the overall picture of public sector finances.
The GERS report shows that public finances in Scotland are going in the opposite direction, with spending growing faster than revenue. This was mainly due to revenue from North Sea oil and gas falling, as well as additional spending on social security.
This is because GERS looks at all spending and revenue in Scotland’s public sector, rather than specifically what is reserved to the Scottish Government. The report states: “GERS is not a measure of the Scottish Government’s fiscal position, rather it is a measure of Scotland’s overall fiscal position”.
This means the statistics include costs and revenues that impact Scotland’s public finances without being under the full control of the Scottish Government.
Income tax is partially devolved to Scotland, and is included in GERS as a devolved tax, but taxes such as VAT and National Insurance, for example, are reserved to the UK Government. Similarly, an important part of the North Sea’s tax revenue for Scotland comes from the reserved corporation tax. These are not included as devolved revenues.
GERS also looks at public spending on Scotland that is not controlled by the Scottish Government. The largest category of expenditure is on social protection, which accounts for things like pensions, reserved benefits like universal credit, as well as Scottish-specific benefits like the Scottish child payment. Health spending is the second biggest, while spending on defence, policing and education also make up a large proportion of day-to-day expenditure.
Correction, 21 August 2025: A previous version of this article wrongly stated that most of Scotland’s tax revenue came from income tax, and that it was not part of devolved revenue in GERS. This has now been corrected.
Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
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