Economic growth in Scotland will slow over the next year, financial experts have said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has forecast the country's economy to grow by 0.9% in 2017.

This figure is half of what the firm expects the country's economy growth figure to be this year.

Scotland is also the only part of the UK that is expected to continue to receive negative employment growth.

The rate of the growth across the whole of the UK is falling but not as fast as Scotland's.

PwC forecast the UK economy will grow 1.2% in 2017, compared to 2.1% in 2016.

The firm says the slowdown in the economy is due to "the drag on investment from increased political and economic uncertainty following the Brexit vote".

PwC's public sector and government partner Paul Brewer pointed to Scotland's worsening economic inactivity rates when analysing the data.

He said: "For Scotland, the trend has moved in the other direction, with the inactivity rate for 16 to 64-year-olds rising from 21.3% in June-Aug 2015 to 22.3% in June-Aug 2016.

"When you break down the Scottish figures, you see that the inactivity rate for men has only increased very slightly over this period from 17.9% to 18.0%, but the female rate has risen much more markedly from 24.5% to 26.5%.

"Our recent work suggests that the health of the working age population is one factor but there is a challenge here to identify why this is happening and what - if anything - can be done to address it."

The Scottish Government said Brexit is the "biggest threat" to the country's economy.

A spokesman said: "It is Brexit which is far and away the biggest threat to Scotland's economy, jobs and long-term prosperity, and it is the Scottish Government which is reacting to help ease the uncertainty caused by the UK Government who are yet to set out their plans.

"We have acted swiftly to support our economy, announcing a £500m package of financial support for private-sector business investment as well as £100m of accelerated capital spending in this financial year to ease the uncertainty businesses face due to the Brexit vote.

"We're also in a position where the fundamentals of Scotland's economy remain strong, with GDP continuing to grow over the past year and 54,000 more people in employment compared to the pre-recession high

"The overall economic climate has changed as a result of the EU referendum, which is why we are determined to pursue every avenue to secure Scotland's continued place in the EU and the stability, jobs and investment that come from being part of the world's biggest single market."