Those questions were answered early last week with publication of EY’s overall 2024 FDI figures for Scotland.

And, for those who like to see Scotland performing well in what are undoubtedly tough economic times in the UK and indeed internationally, these numbers were worth the wait.

The figures published on June 9 had shown Scotland was second only to London as a destination for financial services FDI in the UK last year, achieving a decade-high for the number of projects won.

Scotland attracted 11 financial services FDI projects in 2024, up from nine in the previous year, the EY figures showed. And this advance was achieved in spite of a sharp fall in overall financial services FDI into the UK last year by project numbers.

The overall FDI figures for Scotland, when they landed last week, showed the nation increased its share of inward investment projects in the UK again last year.

EY Scotland managing partner Ally Scott got straight to the point.

He declared: “Put simply, Scotland continues to punch above its weight with inward investment.”

Scotland in 2024 remained second only to London in the league table of the UK’s top locations for FDI, securing 135 such projects last year, EY’s overall figures for inward investment wins revealed last week.

Although down by 4.9% on Scotland’s all-time high annual number of 142 FDI projects won, in 2023, the figure for 2024 was the second-highest on record.

Scotland’s share of UK FDI projects was 15.8% last year, up from 14.4% in 2023 and significantly higher than the average of 11.5% over the last decade.

The UK recorded 853 FDI projects in 2024, a 13% decline from 2023, making it Europe’s second-top country for attracting inward investment, behind France.

Contemplating the Scottish position, Mr Scott observed: “While project numbers slipped back slightly in 2024 from their record high the previous year, a much sharper fall in projects into the UK overall saw Scotland’s share increase for the sixth year running.”

EY’s figures show Scotland has been second only to London in terms of the number of FDI projects won in every year since 2015. Scotland was also second only to London in 2010 and 2012.

This is impressive indeed, as is Scotland having increased its share of UK FDI projects for six consecutive years.

Read more

Scottish cities figured strongly in a UK context in the latest FDI figures, which was also highly encouraging.

Glasgow, with 27 projects, became Scotland’s leading city for FDI for the first time in five years – a position that Edinburgh held between 2020 and 2023. And Glasgow was the second-most popular UK city outside London for FDI, after Manchester.

Scotland’s “three major cities are once again in the UK top 10 cities”, EY observed, with Edinburgh having secured 24 projects and Aberdeen 12 projects in 2024.

Aberdeen has not had its troubles to seek in recent years, and faces plenty of challenges in the energy transition, so it was heartening to see the Granite City’s success, as well as the healthy numbers of project wins for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

And, within the encouragingly broad range of sectors in which Scotland enjoyed FDI success last year, it was great to see the nation was the UK leader in FDI in oil and gas, with seven projects.

Scotland was also the UK leader in inward investment in the utility supply, electronics, and machinery and equipment sectors last year.

The top FDI sectors for Scotland in 2024 were machinery and equipment, with 19 projects; software and information technology, with 15 projects; and agri-food and utility supply, in joint-third place with 14 projects.

The US remains Scotland’s top source of FDI projects, the EY figures showed.

Scotland attracted 37 FDI projects from US players in 2024  – a rise of 37% on 2023 and bringing the total over the last decade to 356.

The US accounted for 27.4% of Scotland’s total number of FDI projects during 2024. This was a higher proportion than the 23.7% of UK FDI projects originating from the US.

Kathryn Porter, United States Consul General in Edinburgh, highlighted the US’s “strong and enduring economic ties” with Scotland.

She said: “It’s fantastic to see the United States once again emerge…as the leading source of foreign direct investment into Scotland, building on our strong and enduring economic ties. 

“The United States is committed to fostering a robust trade and investment relationship with Scotland, creating jobs, and driving innovation on both sides of the Atlantic.  We look forward to taking our partnership to new heights.”

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “Given the geopolitical uncertainties clearly affecting investor confidence across the world, this is an incredible endorsement of Scotland’s proposition as a destination for global investment.

“A huge amount of work, across both the private and public sectors, goes into securing these projects.”

We will now need to wait nearly a year for the next annual FDI figures for Scotland.

Hopefully, these will show continuing strong trends.

In the meantime, we should celebrate the 2024 success, while not for a second losing sight of the importance of public and private sector players continuing to do their utmost to bang the drum for Scotland and attract more overseas investors.