Spending gap
Spending gap: Scotland vs UK spending per head
This chart shows total (devolved and reserved) public spending for Scotland compared to the UK average. Scotland consistently benefits from higher public spending than the UK average and the spending gap in Scotland's favour has grown over the last decade.
Note:The dip in 2020/21 is due to UK-wide Covid support spending. GERS allocated 6.1% of this spend to Scotland. Given businesses were the direct beneficiaries of this spending, it is not surprising that Scotland was allocated less than its population share, given lower economic activity in Scotland (cf. corporation tax allocations). That said, the fact that none of the "business support grants" spending line has been allocated to Scotland is surprising see spending detail - but we have not dug deeper into this as 2020/21 is an outlier in so many ways.