The Angus town of Brechin has Scotland’s highest vacant shop rate with a quarter of retail spaces empty – up from 22.3% last year.
Cowdenbeath in Fife had the biggest increase in vacancies with a rise of 7.6%, while Dundee is the worst-hit city with 22% of retail spaces unused.
The figures released by Stirling University with the Local Data Company show 12.6% of retail properties are vacant across Scotland.
Some towns had a small drop in empty retail spaces but the number of vacant shops in cities continues to climb.
Critics have attacked the Scottish Government for its “anti-business” attitude.
But Holyrood has insisted it was supporting local retailers and instead blamed the UK Government’s “austerity policies” and confusion over Brexit.
Scottish Tory economy spokesman Dean Lockhart called the findings “extremely worrying”.
The figures came only days before Finance Secretary Derek Mackay unveils the year’s Scottish Budget.
While the average vacancy rate in Scottish towns fell 0.6% this year, in cities it has risen by 0.3%.
Inverness was the only city to avoid a rise in vacancies with a drop of 2.9%.
Vacancy rates fell in East Kilbride and Troon, Ayrshire, by 16% and 8.1% respectively.
Earlier this year it was revealed that 4,630 retail workers in Scotland have lost their jobs since 2014. Experts blamed consumer spending patterns and changes to the large business supplement.
The Scottish Government said: “Circumstances remain difficult in a number of communities that face specific challenges. Earlier this year we announced a £100 million stimulus package including £10 million for local economic development projects in four towns. Our efforts risk being undermined by the UK Government’s austerity policies – and the current lack of any coherent plan of action in the aftermath of the EU referendum.”
Figures released on Tuesday by the Scottish Retail Consortium and KPMG showed a modest rise in sales north of the Border last month with online purchases taking the lion’s share of transactions.
