SCOTLAND'S largest university generates £2 billion annually for the Scottish economy, according to new figures.
An independent financial study for 2013/14 also found that Edinburgh University supports more than 30,000 jobs across the country.
The economic impact study, carried out by BiGGAR Economics, also estimates that students at the university contribute £177 million to the Scottish economy.
Report authors highlight how the university benefits the wider community through a range of activities that include medical research and the creation of start-up companies.
The study also draws attention to the economic impact generated by the university’s core operations, including direct employment, expenditure on supplies, and capital investment.
The report also underlines the contribution made to the local economy through students’ spending, part-time work and voluntary activity.
Income generated by visits to Edinburgh from students’ friends and relatives is also included in the figures.
Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, said: "As a world-leading centre of academic excellence, we aim to make a significant, sustainable and socially responsible contribution to Scotland, the UK and the world.
"This study strongly indicates the hugely important economic role that the University of Edinburgh plays within Scotland and beyond.”
Figures show that the university’s gross value added (GVA) – which measures the monetary contribution of the organisation to the economy – increased by eight per cent between 2010/11 and 2013/14.
The study states that for every £1 that the university receives from the Scottish Funding Council in the form of awards and grants the university generates £9.53 for the Scottish economy.
Figures show that the university generated £3.3bn GVA for the UK economy, supporting nearly 37,000 jobs, and £4.9bn GVA worldwide, helping to sustain nearly 45,000 jobs.
Meanwhile figures for last year show that the university has achieved its best levels of research funding to date, bringing in a total of almost £305 million. Edinburgh also applied for a total of 86 patents to protect new ideas developed on campus.
Across Scotland, universities are thought to generate £6.7bn GVA, with every £1 of public investment turning into £6 of economic impact.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel