Delhi top-ranked Indian city in Oxford Economics Global Index

Delhi was the top-ranked Indian city at 350th spot on Oxford Economics’ inaugural ranking of 1,000 global cities released on Tuesday, 21 May. 

Besides the national capital, 90 other Indian cities made it to the the Global Cities Index that ranked 1,000 cities across 163 countries.

Oxford Economics assigned points to the cities based on five broad categories — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance — to compile the index, extending a higher weightage to economic factors such as gross domestic product (GDP) and employment growth.

New York, London, and San Jose were the top cities in the index, followed by Tokyo, Paris, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Melbourne, and Zurich. 

The diversity in characteristics of these cities emphasizes that there is no single formula to become a top city globally, Oxford Economics said in the report. Some, like Seattle and San Francisco, possess outsized economic influence. Others, like Melbourne and Zurich, are not as powerful economically but benefit from superior environment or quality of life scores, the report added.

Among the various regions, North America, Western Europe, and Oceania performed the best, as the cities there tended to score highly across all five categories, the report said. At the other end of the spectrum, the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia have the lowest average scores.

Not all regions are homogenous. 

In East Asia, for example, Tokyo scores near the top of the rankings, while the lowest-scoring city, Fushun, China, ranks in the bottom 50.

Mark Britton, director of city services at Oxford Economics, said the index “provides a consistent framework for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the largest 1,000 cities worldwide. When coupled with our forecasts, it enables organizations and policymakers to make more informed strategic decisions.”

Last year, the 1,000 largest cities in the world accounted for 60% of global GDP and over 30% of the world’s population—and the importance of cities will only continue to grow in the future, the report said.

In the decade preceding the covid-19 outbreak, 70% of cities outperformed their respective countries regarding either GDP or employment growth.

The index listed “future challenges” that could disrupt the rankings. An uneven economic outlook across regions and lingering inflationary concerns could negatively impact the economic score of many locations, it said.

Debt sustainability continues to be an issue for many developing countries following the covid-19 pandemic and a period of heightened interest rates, further threatening these cities’ economies. Deglobalization and other global migration trends could also impact human capital scores, the study added.

Indian cities and their ranks

Including Delhi, four Indian cities—Bengaluru (411), Mumbai (427), and Chennai (472)— have been ranked among the  top 500. 

Here are other Indian cities that found a place in the index:

Kochi (521), Kolkata (528), Pune(534), Thrissur (550), Hyderabad (564), Kozhikode(580), Chandigarh (584), Tiruchirappalli (634), Pondicherry (646), Kottayam (649), Kollam (652), Ahmedabad (654), Mysore (667), Coimbatore (669), Jalandhar (672), Thiruvananthapuram (686), Madurai (691), Bhubaneswar (704), Amritsar (717), Vellore (729), Ludhiana (730), Nagpur (744), Dehradun (745), Vasai-Virar (748), Kannur (759), Srinagar (761), Hubali-Dharwad (766), Salem (767), Guwahati (770), Jaipur (772), Belgaum (777), Mangalore (779), Bhopal (792), Udaipur (796), Jodhpur (798), Surat (799), Tiruppur (804), Vadodara (806), Amravati (815), Kalburgi (818), Visakhapatnam(821), Nashik (826), Raipur (832), Berhampore (833), Aurangabad (842), Indore (843), Bikaner (844), Solapur (848), Moradabad (854), Warangal (858), Cuttack (861), Guntur (862), Gwalior (864), Erode (870), Kolhapur (877), Bilaspur, Chattisgarh (877), Jammu (897), Patna (904), Asansol (905), Bhavnagar (910), Varanasi (911), Kota (915), Lucknow (920), Bhilai Nagar (923), Aligarh (924), Bareilly (929), Nellore (932), Jamshedpur (933), Rahkot (935), Jabalpur (936), Sangli (943), Ranchi (945), Merrut (946), Gorakhpur (948), Saharanpur (957), Prayagraj (966), Gaya (967), Muzaffarpur (969), Vijaywada (973), Agra (977), Dhanbad (978), Faizabad (981), Kanpur (982), Shahjahanpur (990), Bokaro (993), Hardoi(998), Sultanpur (1,000).