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Understanding Scotland Economy Tracker – November 2025

As Scotland continues to grapple with economic uncertainty, the Understanding Scotland Economy Tracker remains a vital tool for capturing how people are experiencing and interpreting the nations’s shifting landscape. This latest wave reveals a public still deeply concerned about the future, but with subtle signs of stabilisation in how current conditions are perceived.

Understanding Scotland Economy Tracker is produced in partnership with the David Hume Institute.

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5 Key Takeaways

This edition of Understanding Scotland brings you insights from a representative sample of over 2,000 adults (16+) across Scotland on the most important aspects of our society and economy.

HEALTHCARE AND COST OF LIVING TOP NATIONAL AND LOCAL PRIORITIES

Around half (47%) of Scots continue to see healthcare as one of the top issues facing Scotland, and more than one in three (38%) view the cost of living/inflation as a top concern. Both proportions evidence little change from August. These are also the top issues Scots identify in their local areas, half (45%) identify healthcare as a top issue in their local area, closely followed by the 44% that say the same about cost of living.

IMMIGRATION MAINTAINS PROMINENCE AS PUBLIC PRIORITY

Holding steady this wave, one in five (22%) select immigration as a top three priority issue for Scotland. Over the last two and a half years, concern with immigration has continuously been on the rise from just 4% who saw this as a top issue in May 2023 to its current high. Immigration is also the third largest concern in respondents’ local areas; one in five (20%) said this is one of the top issues in their local area.

PESSIMISM GAINS GROUND AROUND CURRENT AND FUTURE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

Compared to 12 months ago, seven in ten (69%) Scots report that general economic conditions are worse now, excluding don’t knows, up three percentage points over the last quarter, while just under half (47%) believe their own financial circumstances have worsened, an increase of two percentage points from August. Looking to the future, similar proportions expect conditions to worsen; seven in ten (73%) believe future general economic conditions will worsen in the next year, up from 71% that said the same in August, and about half (47%) expect their own financial situation to worsen, compared to 44% that said the same in August.

CONCERNS WITH MONEY MATTERS CONTINUE TO IMPACT LIVES OF SCOTS

About half of Scots have reduced non-essential spending (53%), cut back on leisure activities (51%) or saved less than usual (45%) due to concerns about money matters, essentially unchanged from the previous wave. However, around half (47%) also report having reduced their heating or energy use, an increase of five percentage points from August, which may be reflective of seasonal impacts of economic conditions as we head into winter.

NEGATIVE FORECASTS FOR SCOTLAND’S LABOUR MARKET EMERGE

Only one in ten respondents (9%) agree that there will be more job opportunities in the next year, compared to seven in ten (70%) who disagree. Expectations for pay show a similar pattern, where just one in four are confident that their wages will rise in line with the cost of living in the next year (24%). Skills and training indicators also suggest underlying concerns among survey respondents. Nearly six in ten (56%) believe they will need to retrain or upskill if they wanted to get a new job, while one in five (22%) report that they have not received any training since their initial induction.