
Annual economic figures that have been a key battleground in the independence debate are to be published by the Scottish government.
The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) report will estimate how much the country raised in taxes in the last financial year, and how much was spent on its public services.
Last year's report said Scotland spent £13.3bn more than it raised in 2016/17.
The deficit represented an 8.3% share of Scotland's GDP.
This was triple the UK figure of 2.4%, but lower than the £14.5bn deficit that had been recorded the previous year.
The UK deficit dropped by £6.4bn to £39.4bn in 2017/18, the lowest figure since 2007, according to official figures.
Collapse in oil price
Scotland had a relatively stronger fiscal position than the UK in 2010/11, but since then the position has been reversed - largely as a result of the collapse in the oil price.
Of the £58bn raised in total in 2016/17, only £208m was from North Sea oil and gas revenue - far lower than it had been before the oil price crash, with revenues standing at nearly £8bn in 2011/12.
Economists at Strathclyde University's respected Fraser of Allander Institute said the gap of six percentage points between the Scottish and UK deficits in last year's Gers report was the largest since the annual figures were published on a consistent basis nearly 20 years ago.
Gers was described as the "authoritative publication on Scotland's public finances" in the Scottish government's White Paper on independence ahead of the 2014 referendum.
The report, which will be published at 09:30 on Wednesday, is compiled by statisticians working for the Scottish government's chief economic adviser, and is free from political interference.
The Scottish government has published a list of answers to frequently asked questions about how Gers is compiled here.