Scotland attracted another record level of investment last year as the country proved to be the most popular UK location outside London.

Investors poured £433 million into the Scottish economy as the number of projects rose by 17% to 91 while the number of jobs created or safeguarded soared by 30% to 9,659, of which 3192 were high value jobs.

Scottish Enterprise said the figures “highlight how Scotland’s outstanding international profile has been a key factor in attracting inward investment across a range of priority sectors” and “reinforce the findings of the EY Attractiveness Survey published earlier this year, which named Scotland as the most attractive place in the UK [in which] to invest outside London.”

Investment from within the UK proved to be the biggest source of projects, accounting for 30.7% of the total, followed by the US (28.6%).

The top three sectors were technology and engineering (33% of projects), oil and gas (16.48%), and financial and business services (15.38%).

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “These results demonstrate just how successful Scotland is at doing business. Last year was a record in terms of the jobs and projects that SDI was able to support.

“It is clear that Scotland has now firmly established itself, outside of London, as the most successful part of the UK for attracting international investment.”

Lena Wilson, chief executive, Scottish Enterprise, said: “Scotland has demonstrated again its strengths as a fantastic place to invest in and grow a business. A highly skilled workforce, research capabilities and competitive infrastructure make us extremely attractive to the world’s best companies.”

Investment is handled by Scottish Development International which played a pivotal role in attracting overseas companies.

These included Capita, the business support services firm that will create more than 200 jobs in Glasgow with an £11 million investment.

Synnex-Concentrix, a leader in high-value global business services, will create 500  jobs in its new 22,000 square foot global delivery centre that will be located to the recently transformed Faulds Building in the Faulds Park business complex, overlooking the River Clyde.

Financial services company, Ceridian UK will create 130 jobs in its new Technology Centre of Excellence, which will host an R&D Technology and IT Support Centre in Renfrew.

Derek Hammersley, chairman of the European Movement in Scotland, which is leading the campaign for a Yes vote in the EU Referendum, said: “These record results from Scottish Development International, which show an increase in both projects and jobs created or safeguarded, highlights the benefits of our continued membership of the European Union.

“Many of these companies are coming here, in part, to access the considerable advantages being part of the largest Single Market in the world, amounting to over 500 million people, brings.

“With nearly half of Scotland’s international trade with the EU and with over 300,000 jobs dependent on such trade it would be folly for us to remove ourselves from the EU and the considerable advantages it brings.”