Economics

Economics at Dundee is studied within the Scottish honours degree structure, which typically spans four years and allows for a broader first year before specialisation develops in the later stages of the programme. The discipline offers both rigorous analytical tools and a framework for understanding some of the most important questions in public and private life: why economies grow or stagnate, how markets allocate resources and when they fail, what drives trade between nations, and how governments should respond to inflation, unemployment, inequality, and climate change.

This four-year, full-time programme develops a strong grounding in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, building your ability to construct and work with formal models of economic behaviour. You will develop quantitative and econometric skills, learning how to analyse data rigorously and evaluate competing explanations of economic phenomena. Applied economics runs through the programme alongside theory, connecting abstract models to real policy debates in areas such as labour markets, financial systems, environmental economics, and international development.

The Scottish four-year structure gives you the opportunity to sample a broader range of subjects in the first year before committing to economics as your primary focus.

The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study economics in an international setting and to gain a perspective on economic institutions and policy debates that differ from the UK context. That international dimension is particularly valuable in a discipline so closely connected to global trade, finance, and policy coordination.

Graduates from economics programmes at Dundee enter careers in finance, banking, consulting, the civil service, international organisations, and business analysis. The analytical and quantitative skills you develop transfer effectively into data science, policy research, and many other fields where rigorous reasoning about evidence and incentives matters. Postgraduate study in economics, finance, public policy, or data science is a natural next step for those who wish to specialise further.