The Scottish private sector again lost momentum in July, with firms fearful over the economic outlook, according to a new report from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

The lender said its seasonally adjusted headline business activity index – a measure of combined manufacturing and service sector output – registered 50.2 last month, down from 54.4 in June, signalling the weakest rate of growth in the current 17-month run of expansion.

New business fell for the first time since March 2021, with weakness generally originating from the manufacturing sector, though service-providers saw rates of growth for both output and new orders weaken, RBS added in the purchasing managers' index report.

Scotland's private sector sees activity growth slow to 17-month low