Latest news with #2025GlobalCitiesIndex
Time Out
21-05-2025
- Business
- Time Out
Woo! Melbourne has ranked sixth in a new global list of the best cities by economic experts
It's no secret that whenever Melbourne makes it onto any global list, we love to shout it from the rooftops. Now, Melbourne has claimed another achievement that's truly worth celebrating, ranking in the top ten on a worldwide list of the best cities. You don't need to tell us that our city is among the best of the best – but it's lovely to be reminded. The 2025 Global Cities Index assesses 1,000 of the largest cities worldwide in determining the rankings, and Melbourne was named sixth in the whole wide world. Our city jumped up from ninth place in 2024, proving that it continues to go from strength to strength. To compile the rankings, researchers at Oxford Economics scored each city on 27 indicators across five categories, including Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment and Governance. Cities were scored under each of these pillars, then the results were combined to reveal the world's top-performing cities overall. Melbourne once again took the crown as the highest-ranking Australian city and overtook heavyweights like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Tokyo. The Victorian capital truly shone in the Human Capital category, where it ranked 12th globally – largely thanks to its high-quality universities and fast-growing economy that's attracted many foreign workers. Melbourne also secured a spot in the top 20 cities for Economics, ranked in the top ten per cent for Environment and tied with Sydney as Australia's highest-ranked city for Governance in 15th place. Topping the entire list was New York in the United States, followed by London, then Paris – a predictable top three. San Jose (the home of Silicon Valley) came in at the fourth spot in the rankings, followed by Seattle rounding out the top five. The report flagged that some of Melbourne's top strengths contributing to its high ranking were its world-class healthcare system, low crime rate, low environmental emissions, stable climate and the multicultural population. But it did also highlight that one of our city's main weaknesses is the increasingly unaffordable housing prices (as is the case in most Australian cities), due to the fast-growing population. Sydney followed very closely behind on the list, ranking seventh in the world, making an impressive jump from 16th place, and Brisbane was ranked 23rd, Perth and Canberra dropped slightly compared to their placings in 2024, coming in at the 31st and 52nd spots respectively. You can find a full list of Australia's rankings in Oxford Economics' Global Cities Index here. The 2025 top ten cities in the world, according to the Oxford Economics Global Cities Index: New York, United States London, England Paris, France San Jose, United States Seattle, United States Melbourne, Australia Sydney, Australia Boston, United States Tokyo, Japan San Francisco, United States
Time Out
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time Out
Two Australian cities have cracked the Global Cities Index top ten for 2025
We know, it seems like a new 'greatest cities in the world' ranking is published every other week. This time around, two Australian cities are being spotlighted (as they should be!) for their impressive ranking in the 2025 Global Cities Index. Both Melbourne and Sydney claimed spots in the top ten, which is an impressive feat, considering they were up against 1,000 of the largest cities worldwide. To compile the rankings, researchers at Oxford Economics scored each city on 27 indicators across five categories, including Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment and Governance. Cities were scored under each of these pillars, then the results were combined to reveal the world's top-performing cities overall. In 2025, Melbourne once again took the crown as the highest-ranking Australian city, and placed sixth worldwide. It climbed three spots from ninth in 2024, overtaking heavyweights like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Tokyo. The Victorian capital truly shone in the Human Capital category, where it ranked 12th globally – largely thanks to its high-quality universities and fast-growing economy that's attracted many foreign workers. Melbourne also secured a spot in the top 20 cities for Economics, ranked in the top ten per cent for Environment and tied with Sydney as Australia's highest-ranked city for Governance in 15th place. Melbourne's slightly larger neighbour, Sydney, was one of only two cities (alongside Boston) to enter the top ten in 2025. The NSW capital jumped from 16th place in 2024 to an incredible seventh this year, thanks to improvements in its Quality of Life and Environment scores. Sydney outshone Melbourne in the Human Capital category, benefiting from a high concentration of company headquarters and Australia's largest foreign-born population. However, the report flags soaring housing costs as a weakness dragging down its Quality of Life score – a challenge shared by all Australian cities on the Global Cities Index. In 2025, Brisbane overtook Perth to become Australia's third-highest-ranked city, moving from 27th place in 2024 to 23rd. It shares similar strengths to both Melbourne and Sydney, including high life expectancy, a large foreign-born population and strong educational institutions. However, it's not all sunshine in the Sunshine State, with weaknesses including more natural disasters, larger rainfall anomalies and high housing expenditure. Perth dropped from 23rd in 2024 to 31st place this year, with the city's heavy reliance on the mining sector contributing to lower economic diversity. Canberra also saw a slight drop, falling from 44th to 52nd place overall. Still, our nation's capital ranked number one in the world for Quality of Life, benefiting from one of the longest life expectancies and some of the highest, most equally paid jobs. The final two Australian cities to make the 2025 Global Cities Index were Adelaide in 54th place (down from 51st in 2024) and the Gold Coast in 69th position (up from 81st in 2024). Here's how Australia ranked on the Global Cities Index: Melbourne Sydney (#10 for Human Capital) Brisbane Perth Canberra (#1 for Quality of Life) Adelaide Gold Coast
