Salmon farmers while looking after the health and welfare of the fish in Scotland.
Photo: Nick Mailer / Salmon Scotland.
The Scottish Government's Marine Economic Statistics for 2023, published last Friday, confirmed the growing importance of aquaculture in the Scottish economy. One of the most striking findings is that, according to the report, between 2014 and 2023, the gross value added (GVA) of aquaculture in Scotland increased by 37%.
This growth corresponds to a GBP 127 million increase from GBP 341 million in GVA in 2014 to GBP 468 million in 2023. In the shorter term and focusing on the year of the study, the report showed that between 2022 and 2023, GVA increased by 30% or GBP 107 million, from GBP 361 million.
That GBP 468 million in gross value added accounted for 0.26% of the Scottish economy and 8% of the GVA of its marine economy in 2023, when aquaculture employed 2,200 people, 0.08% of employment in Scotland and 3% of employment in the marine economy.
As Salmon Scotland highlighted in a statement on the Scottish Government's Marine Economic Statistics, these figures mean that the direct economic contribution of the fish farming sector in Scotland increased by almost a third in the space of a year.
Likewise, the figures also showed that aquaculture is one of the most productive activities in the marine economy, with over GBP 212,545 of GVA generated per employee. Turnover amounted to GBP 1.2 billion, almost 10% of the total.
Specifically, aquaculture ranks fourth in terms of its contribution to Scotland's marine economy, which generated a total of GBP 5.6 billion in 2023. Ahead of it are the oil and gas industry, which dominates with GBP 2.4 billion, marine tourism with GBP 699 million, and shipbuilding with GBP 540 million.
The report also showed that aquaculture contributes more to the Scottish marine economy than fishing, whose contribution in 2023 was GBP 394 million.
"The aquaculture sector is the fourth biggest in the entire marine economy, creating thousands of well-paid jobs and opportunities," said the CEO of Salmon Scotland, Tavish Scott.
"Everyone in the sector is part of a global success story built on high environmental and welfare standards, producing one of the healthiest and best-tasting foods in the world," he added.
As specified in Scottish Government statistics, aquaculture production in Scotland includes salmon, trout, mussels, and other shellfish. As in previous years, in 2023, Atlantic salmon accounted for 95% of the value of aquaculture, which, as highlighted by Salmon Scotland, confirms its vital role.
According to data from Scotland's Marine Economic Statistics 2023, the GVA of fish farming in Scotland has fluctuated over the last ten years, with a low of GBP 99 million in 2015 and a high of GBP 665 million in 2019.
The report highlights that, specifically, salmon farming is a process that takes several years, so some years will have higher costs and lower production than others, leading to these fluctuations.
In the case of 2015, which marks the low point of that ten-year period between 2014 and 2023 (see chart below), the report clarifies that the decline was due to lower salmon prices and higher costs resulting from disease challenges.
Scotland's aquaculture GVA by year, 2014 to 2023.
Graphic: Scotland's Marine Economic Statistics 2023 / Scottish Government.
"These figures confirm that Scottish salmon continues to generate vital wealth for the country, and especially for our Highland and islands communities," said Salmon Scotland's CEO, continuing his comments on the Scottish Government's Marine Economic Statistics results for 2023.
"However, they only tell part of our economic success story, given that the sector also supports a nationwide supply chain and is attracting record exports and rising consumer demand," Tavish Scott noted.
Salmon Scotland pointed out that the figures for the salmon sector in these statistics do not include the wider supply chain, which also adds hundreds of millions of pounds to the economy. It also noted that there are currently around 2,500 direct jobs in Scottish salmon and around 11,000 indirect jobs.
The trade body said that a more recent independent economic report, published last month, concluded that the Scottish salmon sector contributes GBP 1 billion per year to the economy.
The analysis by BiGGAR Economics found that the GVA of Scottish salmon was GBP 231.2 million in 2024, with a further GBP 589.9 million generated through the supply chain.
As reported by WeAreAquaculture, Salmon remains the UK's favorite fish, with sales of Scottish salmon soaring within the country, reaching GBP 1.5 billion from August 2024 to August 2025, but also being the UK's largest food export, with international sales on track to exceed the GBP 1 billion mark for the first time this year.
