The 25 most economically powerful cities

Sep 25, 2015

Mike Bird

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There’s fierce competition among the world’s most powerful and influential cities, and there are a lot of questions: Are the megacities cropping up in the developing world displacing the western world’s hubs? Does London or New York come out on top?

CityLab and the Martin Prosperity Institute have teamed up to compile a ranking of the 25 most economically powerful cities in the world today.

They’ve based it on four major factors: Overall economic clout, equity and quality of life, financial power and global competitiveness. Their estimates for these are drawn from a bundle of different sources.

There are some surprising cities pretty high up on in the ranks, and you can check where they all sat three years ago when the list was last made. Some have surged up the ranks and some have dropped back considerably.

1. New York (1st in 2012)

2. London (2nd in 2012)

3. Tokyo (3rd in 2012)

4. Hong Kong (4th in 2012)

5. Paris (4th in 2012)

6. Singapore (7th in 2012)

7. Los Angeles (9th in 2012)

8. Seoul (11th in 2012)

9. Vienna (unranked in 2012)

10 (tie). Stockholm (unranked in 2012)

10 (tie). Toronto (18th in 2012)

12. Chicago (6th in 2012)

13. Zurich (10th in 2012)

14 (tie). Sydney (unranked in 2012)

14 (tie). Helsinki (unranked in 2012)

16 (tie). Dublin (unranked in 2012)

16 (tie). Osaka-Kobe (15th in 2012)

18 (tie). Boston (11th in 2012)

18 (tie). Oslo (unranked in 2011)

18 (tie). Beijing (11th in 2012)

18 (tie). Shanghai (8th in 2012)

22. Geneva (unranked in 2011)

23 (tie). Washington (14th in 2012)

23 (tie). San Francisco (unranked in 2012)

23 (tie). Moscow (unranked in 2012)

This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Mike Bird is a European markets editor, working from London and covering financial and economic issues.

Image: A street sign for Wall Street hangs in front of the New York Stock Exchange. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson.

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