THE 19th edition of an annual data gathering exercise - compiling the likes of health and employment statistics about Edinburgh - is reporting, among many things, a near ten per cent increase in population growth between 2014 and 2024: from 485,270 to 530,680.

The city council’s latest Edinburgh by Numbers survey (here) also estimates that, by 2047, the city’s population will have risen to around 585,838.

The data was published at the end of last month.

Among other findings:

• Edinburgh attracted five million overnight visits in 2024, generating £2.57 billion in total visitor spend - a 14.3 per cent increase on 2023;

• Renewable electricity generation rose from 27.3 GWh in 2019 to a peak of 39.7 GWh in 2023, before dipping to 35.5 GWh in 2024 due to reduced bioenergy output;

• The capital’s median hourly pay is £20.49 – more than any comparable city other than London and over 50 per cent above the UK Real Living Wage;

• 17 per cent of the city’s residents live in relative poverty (households whose income is below 60 per cent of UK median income in the same year) though this is below the national average of 21 per cent;

• Close to 23,000 new trees were planted in the council area as part of Edinburgh’s ‘Million Tree City’ project;

• Around 60 per cent of trips involve walking or public transport, 68 per cent of short journeys under two miles are made on foot or by bike;

• 86 per cent of residents are satisfied with public transport, more than 20 percentage points above the Scottish average;

• Edinburgh has the second-highest number of higher education students per 1,000 residents (140) of all major UK cities, behind Manchester (148);

• The Capital has 36 ‘Green Flag’ parks - over twice as many as Sheffield, the city with the next highest number of parks with the award; and

• 25 per cent of people moving to Scotland from other countries outside the UK come to live in Edinburgh.

Image details: copyright Mike Wilson

ALMOST 900 new-build homes were started in Edinburgh - across the private, local authority and housing association sectors - during the months October-December last year, according to Scottish Government statistics.

Says the government, here, there were exactly 894 ‘all sector’ new-build starts in Edinburgh during the quarter year, compared to 521 (Q3 20…

Read more

CONSTRUCTION of just over 2,300 new homes - exactly 2,334 - was begun in Edinburgh during the financial year, 2024/25.

According to Scottish Government figures, here, the quarterly ‘house building starts - in ‘all sectors’, ie private and housing association / local authorities - were as follows: 965 (2024 Q4), 815 (2025 Q1), 153 (2025 Q2) and 521 (2025 …

Read more

ALMOST 50 tonnes of litter was picked up over the course of a year by workers employed by the city centre ‘business improvement’ organisation, Essential Edinburgh.

At Essential Edinburgh’s annual general meeting, last month, chief executive, Roddy Smith, also noted that, compared to the previous 12 months, there had been a 131 per cent increase in ‘hazar…

Read more

DURING the months April-June this year, the construction of some 153 new-build homes was started in Edinburgh, in ‘all sectors’: private, local authority and housing association - according to Scottish Government statistics.

And when it came to new-build ‘all-sector’ house ‘completions’ for those three months, the number was 857.

The 153 ‘start’ figure co…

Read more