Edinburgh is highest-ranking Scottish city, according to PwC’s Good Growth for Cities Index

• Scotland’s capital city moves up the rankings in the latest iteration of PwC’s Good Growth for Cities Index – placing 15^th of 50 UK cities
• Jobs, skills, and housing sit above the UK average, as do high streets and work-life balance
• The gap between the highest and lowest performing cities in PwC’s Index is narrowing but economic progress to level-up the UK is too slow

Edinburgh is Scotland’s highest-ranking city, outperforming the UK average on several key economic factors, according to PwC’s Good Growth for Cities Index – which also shows the city improving its place in the rankings against last year’s Index.

This year, the Scottish capital ranks at 15^th place on the Index, in comparison with 19^th last year, out of 50 UK cities – demonstrating a stronger overall performance than Glasgow and Aberdeen. As well as tracking above the UK average on skills for 16-24-year-olds and over 25s, jobs and work-life balance, Edinburgh is also seen as above average in terms of house price to earnings ratios and quality of local high streets.

The Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities Index ranks 50 of the UK’s largest cities (generally considered those with populations of at least 350,000 people), plus the London boroughs as a whole, based on the public’s assessment of 12 economic measures, including jobs, health, income, safety and skills, as well as work-life balance, housing, travel-to-work times, income equality, high street shops, environment and business startups. 

Richard Spilsbury, Market Senior Partner for Edinburgh at PwC Scotland, said:

“Edinburgh is a vibrant city, so it’s unsurprising to see it ranked so highly against other UK cities – and it's heartening to see it demonstrate year-on-year improvements in terms of its overall place on the Index.

“It’s particularly important that we’re tracking above the UK average for several key public priorities, including skills across all age demographics, jobs and work-life balance as well as the quality of high streets and house-price-to-earnings ratios.

“Key to stimulating economic growth in the capital is the ability for the people who want to live and work here to be able to afford to do so, alongside a thriving jobs market to retain our strong pool of talented people. This is seen by Edinburgh’s lower performance in attracting new business. Making strides in attracting new businesses to invest in the city and create jobs will allow talented workers in the city to stay here and thrive.”

Of all 12 economic factors measured, Edinburgh’s largest improvement was in skills for 16-24-year-olds, with the largest decline in health in comparison with last year’s Index. The city performed broadly in line with the UK average on most other measures, apart from health and new business, where it tracked below the UK average.

The report also sets out expected economic growth for Scotland in 2023 and 2024 – predicting it to come eighth of the UK’s 12 nations and regions in terms of growth.

While Edinburgh is ranked 20^th of 50 cities for expected economic growth in 2024, it is expected to see a reduction in economic activity across 2023.

Richard Spilsbury, Market Senior Partner for Edinburgh at PwC Scotland, concluded:

“While Edinburgh performs broadly in line with the UK average we must continually look at opportunities to improve and unlock further growth. One of Edinburgh’s key sectors is financial services and insurance, and with the emerging need for business to look at green financing in the coming years, as well as the city’s proximity to the Green Freeport at the Firth of Forth and potential for the creation of green jobs, there’s a real opportunity to capitalise and stimulate growth.”

About the Good Growth for Cities Index

• The Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities Index was established in 2011 and is updated annually.
• The Index looks beyond GDP and covers broad economic measures. These include jobs, health, income, safety and skills, as well as work-life balance, housing, travel-to-work times, income equality, high street shops, environment and business start-ups. The index measures the performance of 50 of the UK’s largest cities, England’s Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and ten Combined Authorities, against this basket of 12 factors which the public think are most important when it comes to economic wellbeing. More details on the methodology can be found in the report here www.pwc.co.uk/goodgrowth