Scotland’s GDP is provisionally estimated to have fallen by 18.9% in real terms during April — after a 5% fall in March, the Scottish Government said.

“These results are very similar to the pattern seen across the UK as a whole, and reflect the direct economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland during the first weeks and full month of the lockdown phase,” said the Scottish Government.

“The industries with the largest falls in output over the latest two months are those which have been required to close or where working at home is not possible.

“This includes accommodation and food services (down 85% over two months) and arts, culture and recreation services (down 51% over two months).”

This is the first publication of monthly GDP statistics for Scotland, which have been developed to help track the economic impact of COVID-19 and to help the response.

These are designated as “experimental official statistics” which means that they are still in development.

“All results are provisional and subject to relatively high levels of uncertainty,” said the Scottish Government.