Film and television productions have brought more than £166 million directly into Glasgow’s economy over the past five years, new figures have revealed.
Productions filming in the city generated at least £166.1 million in direct local expenditure between 2021 and 2025, according to figures provided by Glasgow City Council. The money has been spent across the city on everything from hotels and restaurants to transport, storage, building hire and the logistical services required to support film and television crews.
The figures underline the economic value of Glasgow’s emergence as one of the UK’s most recognisable filming locations, with the city regularly transformed into locations including New York, Philadelphia and the fictional Gotham City for major Hollywood productions.
Direct local expenditure reached £42.2 million in 2021 before climbing to £57.7 million in 2022. It subsequently settled at £22.2 million in 2023, £21.9 million in 2024 and £22.1 million during 2025. The council cautioned against interpreting the annual figures as a trend because production activity can vary significantly from one year to another.
The figures from the Glasgow Film Office relies on productions or their funders providing estimates of their expenditure in the city. Local businesses affected by road closures and filming disruption have questioned the ability of international productions to translate their estimates into tangible positive economic impact.
The council estimates that film and television production has brought around £500 million into Glasgow’s economy over the past 25 years.
The city hosted one of its largest productions when Marvel filmed major action sequences for Spider-Man: Brand New Day during summer 2025. Glasgow city centre was transformed into New York, with American vehicles, street furniture and signage installed around streets including Bothwell Street and Wellington Street.
The city is currently doubling for Gotham again during production connected to The Batman: Part II, with the Batmobile and Gotham City Police vehicles appearing on Glasgow streets.
Previous Hollywood productions to use the city include The Batman, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Flash and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Warner Bros also filmed the unreleased Batgirl extensively in Glasgow.
British television production provides a more regular stream of work, with programmes including Shetland, Vigil and Dinosaur among the returning series to have been based in Glasgow. The city has also hosted productions including Outlander, Rebus, Guilt, Crime and Night Sleeper.
Screen Scotland’s assessment of the industry found Glasgow generated £188.1 million in direct screen-sector gross value added in 2023 and supported 3,160 full-time equivalent jobs directly.
Glasgow accounted for 41% of Scotland’s direct screen-sector GVA and 36.5% of its direct screen employment that year.
The city also represented 32.4% of the total economic impact of Scotland’s screen sector when wider effects were included. The push to attract more productions, particularly during the summer months, has caused disruption for residents and businesses. Concerns about that disruption prompted questions at Glasgow City Council about exactly how much economic value filming was bringing to the city.
A spokesman for the city council said: “Over many years, Glasgow has been able to attract film and broadcast productions of all sizes – productions that have brought around half a billion pounds to the city’s economy over the past 25 years.
“This economic impact represents the spend in accommodation, eating and drinking out, storage, hiring buildings and spaces, transport, and a whole range of logistical services – with some individual productions spending several million pounds during their time in Glasgow.
“These productions come to the city as they know through experience that the council’s Glasgow Film Office and their colleagues in our roads and parking teams will act as a ‘one-stop shop’ to allow shoots to go as smoothly as possible while minimising the impact on residents and businesses.
“The range of architecture in the city – particularly our heritage buildings and the city centre’s grid system – is of particular interest to productions looking to recreate the streets of (sometimes fictional, sometimes real) American cities.
“While it is always nice to welcome major productions and see the likes of Spiderman swinging along Bothwell Street the bread and butter of filming in Glasgow is for UK broadcast productions, and these have helped to grow a thriving film sector in the city, providing jobs for local people in a variety of roles.”