Scottish businesses have delivered their highest-ever level of planned international sales – reaching an unprecedented £2.46 billion during 2024/25, a 20% increase on the previous year – with support from Scottish Enterprise. This milestone reflects Scotland’s growing global ambition and the strength of its innovation-led economy.
Scotland’s national economic development agency celebrated the ground-breaking achievement, which is detailed in its Annual Report and Accounts for 2024/25, during a visit to international life sciences company Piramal Pharma Solutions in Grangemouth, a key Scotland-based exporter.
Scottish Enterprise met all of its performance targets for 2024/25 – with three areas exceeding the target range – during the first full year of its missions-based approach. Its targeted strategy for delivering economic transformation saw activity focus on the three core growth areas of Accelerating the Energy Transition, Boosting Capital Investment and Scaling Innovation.
Other key results included:
15,000+ new and safeguarded real living wage jobs – the second highest on record
£442 million in business innovation investment
£1.16 billion in business capital expenditure – the second highest on record
£367 million in growth funding leveraged
1.4 million+ tonnes of CO₂ savings – a 209% increase year-on-year and the highest ever recorded
Scottish Enterprise Chief Executive Adrian Gillespie said: “This year we have achieved another impactful set of results, driven by our sharpened focus around three core missions – Accelerating the Energy Transition, Boosting Capital Investment, and Scaling Innovation.
“The fact that we have achieved this historic exporting high, despite challenging global economic conditions throughout the financial year, really highlights the ambition of Scotland’s business base, and the determination of our organisation to transform Scotland’s economy.
“Our track record shows we’ve consistently delivered for Scotland. Over the last five years we’ve supported the creation and safeguarding of around 90,000 jobs – leading to an estimated £1bn in income tax contributions – as well as generating more than £530m of our own income. Our visit to Piramal today provides a fantastic opportunity to highlight the business ambition that exists in Scotland, and the types of companies turning this into impactful international growth for the Scottish economy.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “Supporting our businesses to thrive is not only vital to growing the economy, but to creating jobs and putting more money in people’s pockets.
“I congratulate Scottish Enterprise on these impressive results, particularly the record figure for forecast export sales, which demonstrates international demand for Scottish goods, products and services. We will continue to support Scottish businesses to grow internationally, despite ongoing uncertainties in global trade.
“It is also encouraging to see that we are doing this in a sustainable way, reducing carbon emissions in line with our commitment to net zero.”
Piramal Pharma Solutions is a global leader in antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing and exports its life-saving medications worldwide from its state-of the-art facility in Grangemouth. In December 2023 the company officially opened an expansion of its existing site, increasing capacity by 70-80%, following grant support from Scottish Enterprise. The company achieved £85m in international sales during 2024/25 financial year.