THE SNP have hailed the success of the Scotch whisky industry after fresh analysis showed the number of distilling businesses in Scotland almost doubled over the past decade.
Analysis by the party of official figures from Nomis – and Office for National Statistics (ONS) service for census and labour market statistics – showed that there had been around 190 distilling businesses in Scotland in 2016. In 2025, that number was 355 – a rise of 87%.
The largest absolute growth was in the Highland area, where the number of distilling businesses doubled from 25 to 50. In Perth and Kinross, the number also doubled, from 10 to 20.
Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Fife all saw growth rates of 200%. The two cities went from 10 distilling businesses to 30 over the decade, while Fife went from five to 15.
Moray, the area with the most distilling businesses in Scotland, grew by 10% from 50 to 55.
Graham Leadbitter, the SNP MP for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey, said that Scotland’s spirits sector could grow further with the right policies at a UK level.
“These figures show that Scotland’s world-famous spirits sector has the skills and products to succeed in spite of the harmful Westminster policies being levelled against it,” Leadbitter said.
“But the tax hikes imposed on the industry by Labour and Tory MPs at Westminster have driven down sales, brought down tax revenue, and placed enormous pressures on distilleries across Scotland.
“The new Prime Minister should follow in the footsteps of the SNP Scottish Government by championing the industry at home and abroad and scrap its tax hikes which have slowed the sector's success.”
Earlier this year, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) called for “fair treatment of spirits when it comes to UK taxation”, highlighting that as of February 1, the total tax burden on a 70cl bottle of Scotch whisky has been 71%.
Leadbitter added: “We know the love for Scotland’s national drink across the world and it was only through the actions of John Swinney raising the issue with Trump directly that we managed to repeal the US Scotch whisky tariffs, which were harming both buyers and sellers.
“Unlike the UK Government, the SNP will always stand up for Scotland’s whisky and spirits trade and it’s high time the Labour Government backed this successful industry and ended their supertax on Scotland’s premier drink.”
