New Delhi: Major cities across Asia, including New Delhi and Bengaluru, are expected to play a bigger role in the global economy in the years ahead, even as New York, London and Paris continue to dominate Oxford Economics’ 2026 Global Cities Index.
“Our 2026 Global City Index is a testament to the strength, stability, and opportunities across the world’s top cities, with the top three in our rankings unchanged from last year,” said Liam Sides, Director of City Services at Oxford Economics and lead author of the report, in a statement.
The index, which assesses 1000 cities across 163 countries, ranks cities on five measures: Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment and Governance. While the United States and Western Europe continue to dominate the top of the table, the report identifies cities across Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe that are recording broad-based improvements.
Sides explained that this is indicative of the circular, self-reinforcing nature of success.
“Cities performing well in one category tend to excel in others, as a strong economy drives quality-of-life improvements, which in turn attracts skilled talent. Once a city enters this growth cycle, it takes significant shocks to displace it,” he said.
Who are the top performers?
New York retained the top spot, followed by London and Paris. Whereas Seattle, San Francisco, Dublin, Boston, San Jose, Tokyo and Zurich made up the remainder of the top 10.
In the US alone, there were 30 of the top 100 cities. But the report found varying reasons for the strength of American and European cities.
“In the US, strong scores across the Economics and Human Capital categories drive their elevated position. In Europe, however, it is outperformance across the Quality of Life, Environmental, and Governance categories,” the report read.
Swiss and Scandinavian cities also performed particularly well, with Zurich, Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen ranking among the global top 20. Nordic cities scored strongly in the environment and governance categories. As per the report, European cities in general retained an advantage in quality of life.
“These differences are emblematic of current trends and policy priorities, as the US continues to post strong economic gains, while Europe retains its advantage in resident amenities and liveability,” Sides said.
Whereas, across the pond, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Los Angeles remained among the higher-ranked cities, with strong performances in economics, as well as quality of life.
The report also linked the performance of several US cities to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, particularly in California’s Bay Area.
“The global AI boom is leading to substantial rates of economic growth across those cities at the forefront of development, and we expect economic gains to continue coalescing around California’s Bay Area specifically,” the report found.
Central and Eastern Europe recorded some of the largest increases in the 2026 index. Warsaw climbed 109 places, moving closer to the top 50. Bratislava and Sofia also recorded major gains.
Researchers said that the performance reflected more than two decades of economic transformation in the region following the collapse of communism and the expansion of the European Union.
“Strong economic and income growth have been at the centre of these developments and cap off over two decades of transformation since the collapse of communism and accession into the European Union. Warsaw rose 109 places as it moved closer to the top 50, while Bratislava and Sofia also delivered huge increases,” Sides concluded.
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‘Cities to Watch’
Oxford Economics index also identified 30 cities as “Cities to Watch”, including Bengaluru, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Shenzhen and Tashkent.
The group also includes Brasília, Lima, Medellín, Monterrey and Santiago in Latin America; Accra, Cairo, Dakar, Luanda and Nairobi in Africa; Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh in the Middle East; and Warsaw, Manchester, Tallinn, Toulouse and Eindhoven in Europe.
“These cities each have distinct strengths but are united by their productivity-led growth, an ability to move up the value chain, and their increasing strength in attracting innovative businesses and the highest-skilled workers,” Sides noted.
The report further expects Chinese and Indian cities to continue moving up the rankings as economic and productivity growth improves living standards across the subcontinent.
“Chinese and Indian cities, in particular, will continue to rise in our index as they combine substantial advances in GDP with huge productivity gains that will raise living standards,” Sides said.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)