Dundee would be more exposed to a bad Brexit deal than any other Scottish city, a leading research institute has warned.
A study by the Centre for Cities, a think tank dedicated to improving the economic success of the UK, found 43% of exports from Dundee are to European Union countries.
Researchers noted the city is more exposed than Glasgow or Edinburgh, both of which export around 41% of their goods to the EU, while Aberdeen was the least at risk of any Scottish city with just 30% of its exports being sold in the bloc.
The think tank warned businesses and employees in Dundee are the most likely in Scotland to be impacted by any post-Brexit trade barriers and called on policymakers to prioritise securing frictionless trade in both goods and services.
It found 38% of Scottish cities’ exports overall are sold to the EU, with the largest export base in financial and insurance services.
Centre for Cities’ chief executive Andrew Carter said policymakers “should work to ensure that EU trade in both goods and services is as frictionless as possible, while also retaining the ability of businesses to access global talent”.
“A failure to do this could limit the economic prosperity of many of Scotland’s cities and the millions of people living and working in them,” he added.
Dundee City Council leader John Alexander described the assessment as “very concerning” and said it should “act as a warning to all of those politicians who continue to steadfastly ignore the potential negative impact on our economy”.
“Dundee voted to remain and yet we could be left with a situation where our economy is more significantly impacted that other cities by Brexit,” he said.
“As part of the council’s monitoring and awareness-raising around Brexit we have continued to encourage local businesses to use the Scottish Enterprise Toolkit to help them get ready and have promoted the Scottish Government’s grant scheme which gives businesses up to £4,000 to support preparations.”
A Scottish Government spokesman insisted the study underlines the “very real threat” leaving the EU poses to Dundee and other Scottish cities”.
He said it “reinforces the Scottish Government’s argument for Scotland and the rest of the UK to remain in the EU, in line with the overwhelming vote of people in Scotland”.
The spokesman added: “The potential impact on Scotland and its cities highlighted in the report also demonstrates why it is vital that the Scottish Government should play a full role in the development of future UK trade arrangements to ensure that these reflect and protect the interests of the Scottish economy.”
The UK Government said the deal it has agreed with the EU “works for businesses in all parts of the UK and includes an implementation period to enable firms to trade as they do now until 2021”.
A spokesman said: “Under the terms of the deal both the UK and the EU have also made a commitment to negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement on goods and services with zero tariffs on exports and imports.
“Delivering this deal remains our priority and we are working hard to get it through Parliament.”
