ECONOMIC growth in Scotland will trail that in the UK as a whole this year and in 2018, partly because of a drag resulting from oil and gas sector weakness, PricewaterhouseCoopers has forecast.

PwC predicts the Scottish economy will grow by 1.3 per cent this year, and by 1.1 per cent in 2018.

It forecasts UK growth will slow from 1.8 per cent in 2016 to 1.6 per cent this year. PwC projects UK growth will slow further to 1.4 per cent in 2018

PwC notes the main reason for the projected slowdown in overall UK growth is a forecast downturn in business investment driven by continued uncertainty around negotiations to leave the European Union. It also cites an expected squeeze on household spending resulting from rising inflation.

The pound’s tumble in the wake of the Brexit vote has been a key factor in the jump in annual UK consumer prices index inflation from 0.3 per cent last May, ahead of the EU referendum vote, to 2.3 per cent in February.

Asked why the growth forecasts for Scotland were weaker than those for the UK as a whole, PwC chief economist John Hawksworth cited oil and gas sector weakness and its knock-on impact. He also noted trend growth for the financial and business services sector had tended to be weaker in Scotland than in the UK as a whole, which had been boosted by the influence of London.

But he emphasised the differences between the Scottish and UK growth projections were small.

He said: “We are not talking here about radical differences.”

Lindsay Gardiner, who chairs PwC’s operations in Scotland, welcomed the projections that “the UK and Scotland look set to avoid recession over the coming years”.

But he flagged “considerable uncertainties” around growth forecasts at the moment and urged companies to “review the potential wider implications of Brexit for all aspects of their business”.

Strathclyde University’s Fraser of Allander Institute, which published its latest projections this week, forecasts the Scottish economy will grow by 1.2 per cent this year. It predicts expansion of 1.3 per cent in 2018, and growth of 1.4 per cent in 2019. The squeeze on household finances caused by rising inflation has also been flagged by Fraser of Allander.

In its latest economic outlook, PwC estimates “up to around 30 per cent” of existing UK jobs are susceptible to automation from robotics and artificial intelligence by the early 2030s.

It points out the proportion of jobs in the UK viewed as susceptible is lower than respective estimates of 38 per cent and 35 per cent for the US and Germany, but higher than a corresponding projection of 21 per cent for Japan.

PwC says in its economic outlook: “In practice, not all of these jobs may actually be automated for a variety of economic, legal and regulatory reasons. Furthermore, new automation technologies will both create some totally new jobs in the digital technology area and, through productivity gains, generate additional wealth and spending that will support additional jobs of existing kinds, primarily in services sectors that are less easy to automate.”

It notes the likelihood of automation appears highest in sectors such as transport, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail. PwC views the likelihood as lower in the education, health and social work sectors. It says male workers could be at greater potential risk of job automation than women, but cites education as the key differentiating factor for individual workers.