The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games have completed the final event: putting their own victory lap on a set of scales. An impact evaluation published on 2 November says the streamlined Games generated £223 million in gross economic output across Scotland after being delivered for £159.6 million. The Inspector has checked both numbers and removed the confetti from the calculator.
That £223 million is a substantial finding, but it is not a profit, a cash surplus or a cheque waiting in the City Chambers post room. Gross output is the total value of modelled economic activity, including direct spending and its estimated supply-chain and household effects. The report’s closer GDP-like measure is gross value added, which it puts at £117.3 million for Scotland and £92.5 million for the Glasgow City Region. The bigger number may keep the larger drum, provided the label stays attached.
The report’s own Table 6.7 gives the Glasgow City Region £176 million in gross output. Commonwealth Sport’s accompanying release says £158.6 million. Glasgow 2026’s version of the release now says £176 million. That leaves £17.4 million wandering between official pages, which is quite a lot of economic activity to lose on the short walk from the report to the podium.
The underlying model is more careful than the launch copy. It counts £126.5 million in additional direct expenditure across Scotland, then estimates £37.3 million of indirect activity through supply chains and £59.2 million induced through household spending. It removes spending judged to have happened anyway, spending displaced from elsewhere and leakage outside the geography being measured. Economic impact has not been found under a seat. It has been modelled, adjusted and given an appendix thick enough to deter casual lifting.
The unusual part is the funding. The evaluation says 99 per cent of the £162.2 million budget came from Commonwealth Sport, commercial partners and other non-public sources, roughly £96 for every £1 of public funding. The settlement after Victoria withdrew as host allowed Glasgow to stage a Games with an arrangement most host cities can only achieve by locating a very specific Australian government and waiting for it to cancel.
The report estimates the activity supported 2,400 full-time-equivalent years of employment across Scotland, including 2,100 in the Glasgow City Region. Those are modelled units of labour demand, not 2,400 observed new jobs or 2,400 fresh lanyards. The technical appendix says so directly. The distinction is less glamorous than a medal ceremony and considerably more useful.
There are other limits. The evaluation was commissioned by Commonwealth Sport and the organising company, although it was delivered by The Bulb with the University of the West of Scotland. It did not include a representative survey of Glasgow or Scottish residents because of timing. Its resident-facing evidence came from people who bought tickets, volunteered or attended a live site, and its comparisons with earlier Games are described as indicative rather than like for like. The Inspector has marked these as caveats, not grounds for feeding the whole report into the Clyde.
The less triumphant findings earn their place too. Only 67 per cent of surveyed spectators used public or active transport, below the 80 per cent target. The report says existing infrastructure created barriers for some disabled spectators. Among surveyed athletes, 42 per cent said hotel accommodation limited opportunities to meet other competitors. A lean Games can still leave accessibility, transport and the old-fashioned business of people meeting one another requiring another lap.
The fair verdict is strong and narrower than the slogan. Glasgow staged a smaller Commonwealth Games at a fraction of recent costs, with very little public funding and a modelled £117.3 million contribution to Scottish GVA. That is a serious result. It does not require gross output to become profit, FTE-years to become a headcount or £17.4 million to disappear between two official paragraphs. The medal stands. The arithmetic has been asked to remain for inspection.
