Key Points
- Glasgow is now outperforming Manchester in several key economic metrics, according to figures released by Glasgow City Council and compiled by the Glasgow City Region Intelligence Hub.
- Glasgow’s employment rate has risen from 58% in 2012 to 71% in 2023, although it still sits below the Scottish and UK averages.
- Glasgow’s job density was 1.03 in 2021, while Manchester’s reached 1.23, the highest level among UK cities outside London, meaning the cities are strong in different labour-market measures.
- In Glasgow, 90.8% of working-age men in work and 63.9% of working-age women in work were full-time workers in 2023, both above the UK average for those groups.
- Workers born outside the UK made up 18% of Glasgow’s workforce in 2023, below the UK average of 20% but above Scotland’s 14%.
- Glasgow City Region’s latest economic briefing said growth remained weak at the start of 2026, showing that the city’s stronger relative position does not remove wider economic challenges.
Glasgow (Glasgow Express) May 22, 2026 – As reported by the Glasgow City Council-backed Glasgow City Region Intelligence Hub and covered by Herald Scotland, the latest figures place Glasgow ahead of Manchester on a number of indicators, while also showing that both cities continue to face different economic pressures.
What do the new figures show?
The data indicates that Glasgow has made significant gains in employment over the past decade. The city’s employment rate rose from a low point of 58% in 2012 to 71% in 2023, showing a marked improvement over time.
Even so, the same data also shows that Glasgow’s employment rate remains mid-ranking among selected UK cities and still trails the Scottish and UK averages.
The figures also point to Glasgow’s stronger position in full-time work among people already employed. In 2023, 90.8% of working-age men in work in Glasgow were working full time, while the figure for women was 63.9%, both slightly above the UK averages of 88% and 63.6% respectively.
That suggests Glasgow is not only creating jobs, but is also supporting a relatively high share of full-time roles in some groups.
Why is Manchester still ahead in some areas?
Manchester remains stronger on job density, which measures the number of jobs per working-age resident and is used as an indicator of labour demand. Glasgow’s job density stood at 1.03 in 2021, meaning it had just over one job per working-age resident, while Manchester’s rose to 1.23, the highest among UK cities outside London.
That means the comparison is not straightforward: Glasgow appears to be ahead on some measures of workforce performance, while Manchester remains more intense in the concentration of jobs. The data therefore suggests that each city has different strengths rather than one city clearly overtaking the other across the board.
What does the workforce data mean?
The workforce breakdown also sheds light on how each city’s labour market is shaped. In Glasgow, workers born outside the UK accounted for 18% of those in employment in 2023, which is below the UK average of 20% but above the Scottish average of 14%.
This places Glasgow in a middle position among the cities compared, with higher international workforce representation than Scotland overall but less than the UK average.
The figures also show gender differences in full-time work across selected cities. Glasgow recorded one of the strongest full-time employment rates for men, while women’s full-time rate was closer to the average.
The report notes that male employment rates were generally higher than female rates in Scotland, the UK and most of the selected UK cities.
What did the update come from?
The figures were compiled by the Glasgow City Region Intelligence Hub, the in-house socioeconomic research and data insights team used by the council and regional partners.
The briefing process is intended to track local economic change and compare Glasgow against other major UK cities.
A separate Glasgow City Region economic briefing published in April 2026 also said growth remained weak at the start of the year, with February’s modest expansion following a small upward revision to January’s previously stagnant performance.
That means the latest Glasgow-versus-Manchester comparison should be read alongside broader regional evidence showing that growth conditions remain fragile.
How should the figures be read?
The comparison is based on a set of indicators rather than a single overall score, so different measures can point in different directions.
Glasgow may be improving on employment and other workforce measures, while Manchester retains a lead in labour demand as shown through job density. The result is a nuanced picture rather than a simple winner-and-loser headline.
For readers, the main takeaway is that Glasgow’s labour market has strengthened materially over the past decade. But the same data also shows that relative improvement does not mean the city has fully closed the gap with bigger English rivals on every economic metric.
Background of this development
The Glasgow City Region Intelligence Hub is part of a wider system of local economic monitoring used to support policy decisions, investment planning and public debate about regional performance.
Glasgow has long compared itself with Manchester because both are major urban economies outside London with large populations, mixed labour markets and strong city-regional identities.
Recent regional briefings show that Glasgow’s economy is still operating in a difficult national environment, even as some indicators improve.
That makes the latest data politically and economically significant because it suggests progress in some parts of the city economy without removing the need for further growth and investment.
What could this mean for Glasgow?
For workers, the data suggests improving access to jobs and a stronger full-time employment base than in previous years. For employers, it may support the argument that Glasgow is becoming a more stable place to recruit and retain staff.
For policymakers, the figures show progress, but also underline the need to address the remaining gap in overall labour demand and economic growth.
For the wider audience in Glasgow, the likely effect is a more optimistic economic narrative, but one that should still be treated carefully because the city remains below the UK average on some headline employment measures. The figures may therefore strengthen confidence in the city’s direction without suggesting that the recovery is complete.
