People

"The availability of talent has driven growth since day one - we've built strong links with universities, we're connected with Edinburgh University and Napier to bring in interns and run programmes. There's a lot of data talent coming out of these local universities, so that drives the growth agenda."

– Barry Muir, Senior Vice President, State Street

 

Edinburgh had a population of 531,370 as of mid-2025, making it one of the UK’s largest cities. Its population is projected to reach 585,000 by 2046. It sits at the heart of a CityRegion with a population of over 1.4 million.

Edinburgh's working age population is over 375,000. The city is recognised for its talent, with the best educated workforce of any town/city in the UK. As of 2025, 70.6% of working age residents of Edinburgh were educated to RQF4+. Edinburgh is the third biggest graduate city in the UK after London and Birmingham.

Edinburgh performs strongly for talent retention, aided by its quality of life, with Knight Frank finding that over 50% of university graduates remain in the city after qualifying. In the 2020 Global Talent Competitiveness Index - a ranking of cities by their ability to grow, attract, and retain talent - Edinburgh ranked 2nd in the UK and 45th worldwide.