The numbers that tell our 2025 story
This is our third annual Impact Report. For the first time, we made the decision to look at the full picture – environmental, social and economic – together.
An impact report is only as useful as the story it tells. Ours doesn’t just track what happened inside the EICC over the past year, it reflects what we believe events should do: create lasting value beyond the venue, the people who visit and the events themselves.
Here are the five numbers we feel say it best.
Since opening in 1995, the EICC has contributed more than £1 billion in economic impact to Edinburgh.
In 2025 alone, 175 events and 173,000 delegate days added £76m to that total, reflecting not just footfall, but the jobs, investment and commercial opportunities that follow when world-class events choose Edinburgh.
But economic value has never been the only measure we care about. For us, it’s the starting point for a bigger question: what else can each of our events do for the people and communities around them?
The EICC Impact Network – launched in March 2025 – now has more than 30 collaborators, connecting conference organisers with schools, charities, universities and local businesses across Edinburgh and beyond.
The idea is relatively simple: every event that comes through our doors is an opportunity to create something that lasts beyond the event itself.
The International Papillomavirus Society conference, hosted at the EICC, was named one of three global finalists for the Incredible Impacts Award, recognised for advancing critical health research and strengthening links with Edinburgh's academic and medical communities; The Association of Cardiovascular Nursing helped launch a specialist heart clinic pilot at Forth Valley Hospital.
Our events generate 25% fewer emissions than the current industry benchmark – 5.7 tonnes of CO₂e per event, against a sector average of 7.61 tonnes.
This is not a recent development either; it reflects more than a decade of sustained investment in how we operate: energy management, waste systems, procurement choices and catering practices. We've reduced our total emissions by 62.8% since 2013.
We're proud of that trajectory, and honest about the fact that travel and supply chain emissions – the harder, less controllable part of the picture – remain a priority for the years ahead.
Through the Exchange Initiative Fellowship, 80 fully funded places have been confirmed for local early-career researchers to attend upcoming international conferences at the EICC.
The first recipients attended the Société Internationale d'Urologie Congress in 2025, gaining direct access to global research, international collaborators and crucial professional development.
It's one of the ways we try to ensure that the knowledge shared in this building has a wider impact, and that the conversations happening here open doors for people in Edinburgh who might not otherwise be in the room.
Food waste at the EICC is down 33% compared to 2024, the result of separating and measuring each type of waste to inform better purchasing, portion control and menu planning. Food prep waste is down 7.5%, a reflection of the root-to-tip approach taken in the kitchen.
It sits alongside carbon-labelled menus, locally sourced produce and portion-control systems designed to reduce overproduction before it happens.
We know that responsible event management is in the details, not just the data, and depends on small, consistent decisions as much as the bigger numbers.
These five numbers are part of a bigger story, one that includes community partnerships, neurodiversity in events, peatland restoration and a 30-year timeline of sustained environmental improvement.
You can read the full Impact Report here:
