ECONOMY
Many aspects of the economy of Scotland are covered in the article United Kingdom. The currency of the United Kingdom, the pound sterling, is the legal tender of Scotland but the country can also issue its own banknotes; Scotland has retained a £1 banknote. Both agriculture and industry are important in the economy of Scotland, but the main growth sector has been the services industries in recent years. The chief exports are oil and natural gas, chemicals, and manufactured goods, especially whisky, electronics equipment, clothing, machinery, and textiles. Scotland has experienced the same pressure on its traditional industries, particularly shipbuilding, as Wales and the north of England. However, since 1987 economic growth in Scotland has on average been greater than in the United Kingdom as a whole, and it was less affected by the recession in the early 1990s than other areas. In part this has been a consequence of the new jobs and industries created by North Sea oil, and in part a result of Scotland’s success in attracting high-technology industries. The centre of Scottish trade unionism is the Scottish Trades Union Congress, with an affiliated membership of around 980,000.
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