In September, Oxford Economics published its Global Cities Index for 2026. It ranks the world’s 1,000 largest cities on five areas: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. Because it is built on Oxford Economics’ own city forecasts, it shows where cities are heading, not only where they stand today.
The top looks familiar: New York first, London second, Paris third. The more useful news is in two new tools this year, City Archetypes and Cities to Watch. Both help show which cities really compete with each other, and what kind of story each can credibly tell. We last covered the index in its 2024 edition.
The top 10 cities in 2026
- New York: 100.0
- London: 98.8
- Paris: 93.4
- Seattle: 92.8
- San Francisco: 91.9
- Dublin: 91.3
- Boston: 90.7
- San Jose: 89.6
- Tokyo: 89.5
- Zurich: 89.1
Five of the top ten are in the US, four in Europe and one in Asia. Cities in Europe and North America take 78 of the first 100 places.
Same top group, different strengths
The overall score hides how differently the leading cities get there. New York has a perfect score for economics. London has the top score for human capital. Paris stands out for quality of life (88.1), the best of the top three.
Further down the top ten, the differences are even clearer. San Jose scores higher on economics (90.7) than London, but low on human capital (59.7). Tokyo is only 69.7 on economics, yet makes the top ten through strong human capital (92.9) and governance (92.3). Dublin and Zurich also score above 90 on governance, and Dublin is the highest in the top ten on environment (90.9).
In other words, there is more than one way to the top. Some cities lead through the size of their economy, others through talent, institutions or quality of life.
Growth is moving to Asia and the Gulf
Below the stable top, Oxford Economics sees a clear shift. Asian cities now drive most of the world’s growth, led by Chinese and Indian cities that combine large populations with rising productivity and income. Shanghai, Beijing and Delhi are all still outside the top 100, but they are expected to see some of the largest GDP increases of any city up to 2050.
In the Middle East, Dubai and Riyadh have entered the top 50 for the first time. Both attract talent at a level close to London: Dubai scores 97.9 on human capital and Riyadh 92.5. Their governance scores are much lower (56.6 and 45.7). Oxford Economics names the conflict in Iran as a serious risk for the region, but expects its large wealth funds to keep these cities climbing.
New this year: eight city archetypes
Oxford Economics now groups cities into archetypes, based on shared traits rather than size alone:
Global Leaders (21 cities, such as New York, London and Tokyo): the largest economies and business hubs.
Regional Leaders (66, such as Buenos Aires, Vancouver and Kuala Lumpur): important in their region and ahead of their country, but smaller on the world stage.
Cultural Capitals (63, such as Prague, Florence and Edinburgh): mostly smaller cities with a high quality of life and many cultural sites.
Sustainable Cities (63, such as Stockholm and Auckland): low emissions and stable politics.
Industrial Hubs (51, such as Perth and Wolfsburg): driven by extraction or manufacturing.
Legacy Cities (50, such as Osaka-Kyoto, Turin and Busan): ageing and shrinking populations.
Developing Megacities (25, such as Lagos, Cairo and Dhaka): over 10 million people, with infrastructure struggling to keep up.
Emerging Standouts (56, such as Bengaluru and Ho Chi Minh City): fast-growing cities ahead of their countries.
Two results stand out. Cultural Capitals beat the Global Leaders on quality of life (85.6 against 82.4). And Sustainable Cities score highest of all groups on both environment and governance. Oxford Economics also names one main opportunity and one main challenge for each group. Regional Leaders, for example, can present themselves as a cheaper alternative to the Global Leaders, while Cultural Capitals face rising housing costs.
New this year: Cities to Watch
The report also names 28 Cities to Watch: places Oxford Economics expects to climb the ranking in the coming years. They include Warsaw, Eindhoven, Manchester, Toulouse and Tallinn in Europe, Kuala Lumpur, Shenzhen, Ho Chi Minh City and Bengaluru in Asia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh in the Gulf, Nairobi, Accra and Cairo in Africa, and Santiago, Medellín, Lima and Monterrey in Latin America.
Oxford Economics’ main point here is that national figures only tell part of the story. Many cities and regions are growing faster than their country, and that is where many of the opportunities for investors are.
Our reading
The rank is about size. The profile is the story. The top ten will change little from year to year, because it rewards economic weight that takes decades to build. For most cities, the useful part of this index is the five category scores. They show what a city is actually strong in, and that is the raw material for a credible positioning. Zurich is a good example: as we wrote in our reading of Zurich, its brand is built on results rather than campaigns, and its scores for governance and quality of life reflect exactly that.
Archetypes help you pick the right peers. A Cultural Capital that compares itself with New York will always look small. Compared with other Cultural Capitals, it may well lead on what matters to residents and visitors. The archetypes also suggest which claims are believable: quality of life for a Cultural Capital, value for money for a Regional Leader, productivity growth for an Emerging Standout.
An uneven profile needs an honest story. Dubai and Riyadh show how fast a city can rise on talent and economic growth. Their lower governance scores are the part investors and skilled people will look at next. For any city, the weakest category is often where the next reputation question comes from.
Cities ahead of their country need their own voice. This index confirms what we found in our look at talent attraction rankings earlier this year: cities build the appeal, while national policy sets the limits. It also explains why investment positioning increasingly happens below the national level, as our recent pieces on Southeast Asia and Indian states show. A city that outperforms its country has a story the national brand will not tell for it.
How the index works
The Global Cities Index covers the 1,000 cities in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Forecasting Service. Each city is scored from 0 to 100 in five categories: economics (for example GDP size and growth), human capital (education, skills, talent attraction), quality of life (income, housing costs, life expectancy, culture), environment (air quality, green space, climate risk) and governance (institutional stability, rule of law, ease of doing business). The five scores are combined into one overall score. Because the index uses forecasts, it reflects each city’s outlook as well as its current position.
See the key findings and full report from Oxford Economics. For more city and country rankings, explore our Rankings Overview.
