Scottish businesses are significantly more dependent on UK-wide trade than almost every other nation or region, latest figures have revealed.
According to a study of more than 1,200 firms with a presence in Scotland, 59.6 per cent said they had purchased goods or services from other parts of the UK in the past 12 months.
That compares to a UK average of 35 per cent, with only businesses in Northern Ireland buying more from the UK market.
In addition, 53 per cent of Scottish businesses said they had sold goods or services to the rest of the UK, compared to the average of 36.6 per cent.
The survey was carried out by the Office for National Statistics between January 20 and February 2.
Scotland in Union, the largest pro-UK campaign group, said the figures underlined the importance of remaining in the UK to Scottish businesses.
Alastair Cameron, chair of Scotland in Union, said:
“These figures show just how vital the UK market is for Scottish businesses.
“Scotland's hard-working firms rely on seamless trade across the UK, both for selling goods and for buying the materials and services they need to thrive.
“It’s a great British success story that such a high proportion of businesses here contribute to, and are assisted by, a supply chain which runs right through the UK.
“And yet the nationalists want to jeopardise all this.
“If the nationalists succeeded in tearing Scotland out the UK, this seamless market would be disrupted, putting Scottish firms, and the people they employ, at risk.”
The full data set can be seen here, on excel tabs 70 and 71.
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