Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the importance of the Scotch Whisky industry to the Scottish economy.

In 2020, Scotch Whisky exports were worth £3.8bn (down from £4.9bn in 2019). In 2019, Scotch Whisky accounted for 75% of Scottish food and drink exports, 21% of all UK food and drink exports, and 1.4% of all UK goods exports. The Scotch Whisky industry provides £5.5bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy.

There are more than 10,000 people directly employed in the Scotch Whisky industry in Scotland and over 40,000 jobs across the UK are supported by the industry. In 2018, there were 2.2 million visits to Scotch Whisky distilleries, making the industry the third most popular tourist attraction in Scotland.