The SNP’s membership numbers have fallen to 64,525, but the party has also posted a budget surplus.
Accounts published online by the Electoral Commission today show the party have lost 9411 members since last year, down from a total of 73,936.
The accounts also show that the SNP has recorded a surplus of £661,568 for the year ending December 2023 thanks to a levy imposed on local branches.
It marks a turnaround from last year’s accounts, when the party recorded a deficit of £804,278.
Party treasurer Stuart McDonald, the former MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, said “cost of living pressures” were to blame for the loss of members.
“The party continues to seek to pre-empt cancellations by offering membership payment options such as skip, holiday or reduced giving,” he said.
“At all levels we need to redouble our efforts to recruit new members from the many supporters we identify every week.”
It is a trend also seen with the UK's main political parties, whose membership continued to decline last year even as they stepped up preparations for the General Election.
The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, lost around 11,000 members and while the Conservatives do not publish membership figures, income for the party from membership fees fell from £1.97 million to £1.5 million.
Labour shed another 37,000 members over the course of 2023, bringing its total membership at the end of the year to 370,450.
The SNP's budget surplus also comes with a warning from auditors, however, saying that some financial paperwork is missing.
“Cash and cheques received, relating to membership, donations and raffle income were not kept by the party prior to July 2023,” the accounts read.
The auditor added: “We have been unable to satisfy ourselves by alternative means regarding the completeness of income for the current and prior year in respect of the above limitation in scope.
“Consequently, we are unable to determine whether any adjustment to income is necessary in the current year or prior year and the potential impact on opening reserves accordingly.”
They add that other information in the accounts may therefore “be materially misstated".
The accounts also show the party still owes Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive, £60,000 to repay a 2021 loan.
The husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, he resigned from his post last year after he was charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the party.
