Scotland has an economy which is an open mixed economy, mainly services based, which had an estimated nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of £223.4 billion in 2024, including oil and gas extraction in the country's continental shelf region. The country's primary industries are agriculture, forestry, fishery, manufacturing, oil and gas extraction, science, technology and energy, food and drink and tourism. Major developing industries in Scotland include the space industry, renewable energy and the financial technologies sectors. The country is one of Europe's leading financial centres, and is the largest financial hub in the United Kingdom outside of London. Scotland's largest non-UK export market is the European Union (EU), followed by the United States.

Scotland was one of the industrial powerhouses of Europe from the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards, being a world leader in manufacturing. The country had one of the largest and most successful shipbuilding industries in the world, and although significantly reduced in size, shipbuilding remains a significant sector of the economy, generating £403 million in GVA towards Scotland's economy in 2022. Scotland's economy has been closely aligned with the economy of the rest of the United Kingdom since the Acts of Union 1707 which united the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. Since 1979, management of the economy has followed a broadly laissez-faire approach.

There are three Scottish commercial banks – the Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank, and although the Bank of England is Scotland's central bank and its Monetary Policy Committee is responsible for setting interest rates, the three banks of Scotland have retained the rights to print their own banknotes. The Bank of Scotland was the first bank in Europe to successfully print its own banknotes in 1696. The currency of Scotland, as part of the United Kingdom, is the Pound sterling, which is also the world's fourth-largest reserve currency after the US dollar, the euro and Japanese yen.

The economy of Scotland is the second largest economy amongst the countries of the United Kingdom. As one of the countries of the United Kingdom, Scotland is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G7, the G20, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the United Nations.

After the Industrial Revolution in Scotland, the Scottish economy concentrated on heavy industry, dominated by the shipbuilding, coal mining and steel industries. Scottish participation in the British Empire also allowed Scotland to export its output throughout much of the world. However heavy industry declined in the late 20th century, leading to a shift in the economy of Scotland towards technology and the service sector. The 1980s saw an economic boom in the Silicon Glen corridor between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with many large technology firms relocating to Scotland.

Data released by the Scottish Government in 2023 found that there were a total of 149,992 establishments (a single site of an organisation), which employed a total of 2.46 million people in Scotland between each organisation. The largest employment industries in Scotland by March 2022 were the primary sector and utilities (5% of employment), manufacturing (7% of employment), construction (6% of employment), wholesale and retail (14% of employment), hotels and restaurants (8% of employment), transport and storage (4% of employment), information and communication (3% of employment), financial services (3% of employment), business services (16% of employment), public administration (6% of employment), the education sector (8% of employment) and health and social work (16% of employment).

Scottish-based companies have strengths in information systems, defence, electronics, instrumentation and semiconductors. There is also a dynamic and fast growing electronics design and development industry, based around links between the universities and indigenous companies. There was a significant presence of global players like National Semiconductor and Motorola. Other major industries include banking and financial services, construction, education, entertainment, biotechnology, transport equipment, oil and gas, whisky, and tourism. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Scotland in 2013 was $248.5 billion including revenue generated from North Sea oil and gas. Edinburgh is the financial services centre of Scotland, with many large financial firms based there. Glasgow is the fourth-largest manufacturing centre in the UK, accounting for well over 60% of Scotland's manufactured exports. Shipbuilding, although significantly diminished from its heights in the early 20th century, is still a large part of the Glasgow economy. Aberdeen is the centre of North Sea offshore oil and gas production, with giants such as Shell and BP housing their European exploration and production HQs in the city. Other important industries include textile production, chemicals, distilling, agriculture, brewing and fishing.

Total public expenditure in Scotland in 1999/2000 was £36.4 billion, of which identifiable spending which can be proven to benefit Scotland was £27.4 billion. This increased to a total public expenditure of £100.4 billion in 2020/21 of which £81.1 billion was identifiable spending that can be proven to benefit Scotland.