CONCERNS mounted yesterday over Scotland’s dependence on foreign direct investment (FDI) after figures show it boomed last year.

Accounting giant Ernst & Young’s latest Scotland Attractiveness Survey found a record 124 FDI projects came to the country in 2023, a 12.7 per cent rise on 2022, compared to a 6 per cent rise across the UK.

The figures mean that Scotland’s share of UK inward investment has grown from 13.6 to 14.4 per cent over the same period, outstripped only by London for the ninth year running.