A global ranking of the most powerful cities in the world, according to the Mori Memorial Foundation’s latest Global Power City Index.

The Global Power City Index (GPCI) assesses and ranks 48 major global cities according to their “magnetism,” or their “comprehensive power to attract people, capital, and enterprises from around the world”.
The report is published by the Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies, a research body established by Mori Building, a leading urban developer in Tokyo, Japan.
Since 2008, the annual GPCI report has ranked 40 or more major cities by measuring 70 indicators across six functions:
- Economy
- Research and Development
- Cultural Interaction
- Livability
- Environment
- Accessibility
The three top-ranked cities maintained their positions from last year. However, comparing the fluctuation in various scores, London (1) and New York (2) were seen to pull away from Tokyo and Paris in third and fourth place respectively.
London maintained its position at the top of the rankings for the ninth consecutive year. Apart from the Environment function, London was placed in the top 10 for all functions.

New York was second and performed particularly well in the Economy function. In third place, Tokyo continued to perform across all functions while also improving its score in the Environment and Accessibility functions.
Paris, in fourth position, fell back somewhat, particularly in the Livability and Accessibility functions.
Singapore, in fifth place, reaffirmed its credentials as a stable city, achieving improved rankings in all areas except Cultural Interaction.
Function-specific rankings
A total of 70 indicators are used in the GPCI with average scores for each indicator created and then combined to calculate a city’s function-specific rankings, which are then totalled to determine its overall ranking.
Economy
- New York
- London
- Beijing
- Tokyo
- Singapore
- Hong Kong
- Dublin
- San Francisco
- Zurich
- Washington DC
Research & Development
- New York
- London
- Tokyo
- Los Angeles
- Boston
- Seoul
- Chicago
- San Francisco
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
Cultural Interaction
- London
- New York
- Paris
- Tokyo
- Singapore
- Dubai
- Bangkok
- Berlin
- Moscow
- Istanbul
Livability
- Amsterdam
- Madrid
- Berlin
- Paris
- Barcelona
- Toronto
- Vancouver
- Vienna
- Buenos Aires
- London
Environment
- Stockholm
- Copenhagen
- Vienna
- Berlin
- Vancouver
- Sydney
- Zurich
- Geneva
- Helsinki
- Melbourne
Accessibility
- London
- Paris
- Shanghai
- New York
- Amsterdam
- Frankfurt
- Tokyo
- Singapore
- Dubai
- Hong Kong

Most powerful cities in the world – complete ranking
The table below ranks the most powerful cities in the world using the Mori Memorial Foundation’s latest Global Power City Index.
The highest possible total score is 2,600 points.
Rank | City | Score |
---|---|---|
1 | London, UK | 1,661.10 |
2 | New York, USA | 1,514.90 |
3 | Tokyo, Japan | 1,386.50 |
4 | Paris, France | 1,325.40 |
5 | Singapore, Singapore | 1,262.10 |
6 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 1,187.40 |
7 | Berlin, Germany | 1,185.40 |
8 | Seoul, South Korea | 1,163.10 |
9 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR | 1,149.70 |
10 | Shanghai, China | 1,108.90 |
11 | Sydney, Australia | 1,101.70 |
12 | Los Angeles, USA | 1,099.00 |
13 | Madrid, Spain | 1,097.00 |
14 | Melbourne, Australia | 1,092.00 |
15 | Beijing, China | 1,091.90 |
16 | Vienna, Austria | 1,085.00 |
17 | Dubai, UAE | 1,084.90 |
18 | Toronto, Canada | 1,082.10 |
19 | Copenhagen, Denmark | 1,080.50 |
20 | Zurich, Switzerland | 1,073.50 |
21 | Barcelona, Spain | 1,072.30 |
22 | Stockholm, Sweden | 1,050.00 |
23 | Frankfurt, Germany | 1,043.00 |
24 | San Francisco, USA | 1,040.10 |
25 | Chicago, USA | 1,013.70 |
26 | Vancouver | 1,007.60 |
27 | Boston, USA | 1,005.20 |
28 | Brussels, Belgium | 993.40 |
29 | Geneva, Switzerland | 964.90 |
30 | Moscow, Russia | 963.00 |
31 | Dublin, Ireland | 962.30 |
32 | Helsinki, Finland | 958.70 |
33 | Osaka, Japan | 954.00 |
34 | Istanbul, Turkey | 951.10 |
35 | Bangkok, Thailand | 945.90 |
36 | Washington DC, USA | 936.30 |
37 | Taipei, Taiwan | 934.10 |
38 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 927.00 |
39 | Milan, Italy | 922.00 |
40 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 861.20 |
41 | Tel Aviv, Israel | 856.70 |
42 | Sao Paulo, Brazil | 846.40 |
43 | Fukuoka, Japan | 834.00 |
44 | Mexico City, Mexico | 788.90 |
45 | Jakarta, Indonesia | 737.30 |
46 | Cairo, Egypt | 657.40 |
47 | Johannesburg, South Africa | 618.10 |
48 | Mumbai, India | 612.60 |