Global Financial Centres Index

The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) ranks the competitiveness of financial centres based on over 29,000 assessments from an online questionnaire and over 100 indices from organisations such as the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The first index was published in March 2007. It has been jointly published twice per year by Z/Yen and the China Development Institute since 2015.^[1]^[2] It is widely quoted as a top source for ranking financial centres.^[3]^[4]^[5]

GFCI 35 (March 2024)

The 35th edition of the GFCI was published in March 2024.^[6]

GFCI 35 (March 2024)^[7]
Rank	Centre	Rating	Change in rank	Change in rating
1	New York City	764		1
2	London	747		3
3	Singapore	742
4	Hong Kong	741
5	San Francisco	740		5
6	Shanghai	739	1	6
7	Geneva	738	3	8
8	Los Angeles	737	2	3
9	Chicago	736		5
10	Seoul	735	1	6
11	Shenzhen	734		16
13	Washington, D.C.	733	4	1
13	Frankfurt	732	1	6
14	Paris	731	1	6
15	Beijing	730	2	3
16	Zürich	729	2	7
17	Luxembourg	728	1	4
18	Sydney	726	4	8
19	Tokyo	725	1	5
20	Dubai	724	1	5

Financial centre profiles (GFCI 34, September 2023)

The latest report ranked 120 international financial centres into the following matrix:^[8]

Financial Centre Profiles (GFCI 34, September 2023)^[8]
Level	Broad and deep Global leaders	Relatively broad Global diversified	Relatively deep Global specialists	Emerging Global contenders
Global	Singapore London New York City Frankfurt Shanghai Tokyo Toronto Amsterdam Zürich Sydney*	Paris Seoul Washington, D.C. Chicago Los Angeles San Francisco	Beijing Hong Kong Dubai* Luxembourg Shenzhen Abu Dhabi Casablanca*	Moscow
Level	Broad and deep Established international	Relatively broad International diversified	Relatively deep International specialists	Emerging International contenders
International	Berlin Bangkok* Madrid Kuala Lumpur* Busan Boston* Stuttgart Edinburgh Melbourne MiamiΔ Hamburg* Dublin Geneva Brussels Osaka* Montreal Vancouver Stockholm Milan Rome	Mexico City Athens*	Guangzhou Mumbai* New Delhi* Chengdu Riyadh* Dalian* Cayman Islands* GIFT City Qingdao Kigali Taipei Astana* Jersey* Tel Aviv* Guernsey* Liechtenstein*	Saint Petersburg* Istanbul São Paulo Cape Town Panama Bermuda* Nairobi British Virgin Islands Bahrain Johannesburg Mauritius Budapest* Lagos* Doha
Level	Broad and deep Established players	Relatively broad Local diversified	Relatively deep Local specialists	Emerging Evolving centres
Local	Warsaw Atlanta* Munich Oslo Glasgow Prague Copenhagen Minneapolis–Saint Paul Lisbon Calgary San Diego Helsinki Wellington	Santiago Vienna*	Hangzhou* Kuwait City* Tianjin* Nanjing* Malta Tehran Gibraltar Monaco Lugano Isle of Man* Reykjavík	Buenos Aires Baku Ho Chi Minh City Bogotá Trinidad and Tobago Almaty* Manila* Bratislava* Jakarta Rio de Janeiro Vilnius* Cyprus* The Bahamas Wuhan Sofia* Riga Xi'an*

(*) Centres that have moved between categories between GFCI 33 and GFCI 34.
(Δ) Centres that have appeared in GFCI 34 but not in GFCI 33.

Top 15 centres by area of competitiveness

This is run for five separate areas of competitiveness to assess how financial centres perform in each of the areas.^[8]

Level	Business environment	Human capital	Infrastructure	Financial sector development	Reputational and general
1	New York City	New York City	New York City	New York City	New York City
2	Singapore	London	Singapore	Singapore	London
3	London	Singapore	London	London	Singapore
4	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Washington, D.C.	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
5	Beijing	San Francisco	Luxembourg	Shenzhen	San Francisco
6	Shanghai	Washington, D.C.	Shenzhen	Shanghai	Washington, D.C.
7	Washington, D.C.	Shanghai	Hong Kong	Frankfurt	Shanghai
8	Amsterdam	Seoul	Seoul	Beijing	Seoul
9	San Francisco	Beijing	Beijing	Los Angeles	Beijing
10	Los Angeles	Los Angeles	Shanghai	Luxembourg	Los Angeles
11	Zürich	Chicago	Frankfurt	Washington, D.C.	Chicago
12	Luxembourg	Zürich	San Francisco	San Francisco	Zürich
13	Frankfurt	Tokyo	Amsterdam	Boston	Tokyo
14	Paris	Boston	Sydney	Seoul	Boston
15	Chicago	Geneva	Los Angeles	Chicago	Geneva

Key areas

The business environment factors aggregate and value the regulation, tax rates, levels of corruption, economic freedom and how difficult in general it is to do business. To measure regulation an online questionnaire has been used.

The human capital factors summarize the availability of a skilled workforce, the flexibility of the labour market, the quality of the business education and the skill-set of the workforce, and quality of life.

The infrastructure factors account for the price and availability of office space at the location, as well as public transport.

The financial sector development factors assess the volume and value of trading in capital markets and other financial markets, the cluster effect of the number of different financial service companies at the location, and employment and economic output indicators.

Reputational and general considers more subjective aspects such as innovation, brand appeal, cultural diversity and competitive positioning.

Top 15 centres by industry sector

The index provides sub-rankings in the main areas of financial services – banking, investment management, insurance, professional services, government and regulation, finance, fintech, and trading.^[8]

Level	Banking	Investment management	Insurance	Professional services	Government and regulatory	Finance	Fintech	Trading
1	New York City	New York City	New York City	New York City	New York City	New York City	New York City	New York City
2	Shenzhen	London	London	Singapore	London	London	London	Singapore
3	Shanghai	Singapore	Shenzhen	London	Washington, D.C.	Shanghai	Singapore	Los Angeles
4	Beijing	Shanghai	Singapore	Hong Kong	Singapore	Shenzhen	Hong Kong	London
5	London	Beijing	Shanghai	Seoul	Seoul	Beijing	Zürich	Beijing
6	Singapore	Shenzhen	Beijing	Washington, D.C.	Tokyo	Hong Kong	San Francisco	Seoul
7	Luxembourg	Hong Kong	Los Angeles	San Francisco	San Francisco	San Francisco	Frankfurt	Washington, D.C.
8	Hong Kong	Geneva	Hong Kong	Los Angeles	Shanghai	Singapore	Amsterdam	San Francisco
9	Los Angeles	San Francisco	Boston	Luxembourg	Frankfurt	Washington, D.C.	Chicago	Shanghai
10	Washington, D.C.	Los Angeles	San Francisco	Shanghai	Los Angeles	Luxembourg	Copenhagen	Hong Kong
11	San Francisco	Chicago	Geneva	Geneva	Hong Kong	Frankfurt	Dubai	Shenzhen
12	Geneva	Zürich	Sydney	Chicago	Luxembourg	Los Angeles	Washington, D.C.	Tokyo
13	Chicago	Dubai	Seoul	Frankfurt	Chicago	Chicago	Geneva	Chicago
14	Boston	Luxembourg	Washington, D.C.	Boston	Zürich	Amsterdam	Berlin	Boston
15	Paris	Boston	Miami	Dubai	Boston	Berlin	Shanghai	Miami

References

^ Yeandle, Mark (September 2016). "The Global Financial Centres Index 20". Long Finance. Archived from the original on Jul 18, 2023.
^ Jones, Huw (24 March 2022). "New York widens lead over London in top finance centres index". Reuters. Archived from the original on Oct 8, 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022. Rankings are based on surveys and 150 factors, with quantitative measures from the World Bank, The Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD and United Nations.
^ Yoshio Okubo (October 2014). "Comparison of Global Financial Center" (PDF). Harvard Law School, Program on International Financial Systems, Japan-U.S. Symposium. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
^ Glover, John (17 March 2014). "New York Strips London of Mantle as World's Top Financial Center". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on Jun 9, 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
^ Pooler, Michael (1 October 2014). "New York and London vie for crown of world's top financial centre". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2 Oct 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
^ "The Global Financial Centres Index - Long Finance". www.longfinance.net. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
^ "GFCI 35 Rank - Long Finance". www.longfinance.net. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Wardle, Mike; Mainelli, Michael (28 September 2023). "The Global Financial Centres Index 34" (PDF). Long Finance. London: Z/Yen. Retrieved 28 September 2023.

External links

Official website

[1] Yeandle, Mark (September 2016). "The Global Financial Centres Index 20". Long Finance. Archived from the original on Jul 18, 2023.

[factors_calculation-2] Jones, Huw (24 March 2022). "New York widens lead over London in top finance centres index". Reuters. Archived from the original on Oct 8, 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022. Rankings are based on surveys and 150 factors, with quantitative measures from the World Bank, The Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD and United Nations.

[3] Yoshio Okubo (October 2014). "Comparison of Global Financial Center" (PDF). Harvard Law School, Program on International Financial Systems, Japan-U.S. Symposium. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.

[4] Glover, John (17 March 2014). "New York Strips London of Mantle as World's Top Financial Center". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on Jun 9, 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.

[FT20150524-5] Pooler, Michael (1 October 2014). "New York and London vie for crown of world's top financial centre". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2 Oct 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2015.

[6] "The Global Financial Centres Index - Long Finance". www.longfinance.net. Retrieved 2024-08-02.

[7] "GFCI 35 Rank - Long Finance". www.longfinance.net. Retrieved 2024-08-02.

[GFCI34-8] Wardle, Mike; Mainelli, Michael (28 September 2023). "The Global Financial Centres Index 34" (PDF). Long Finance. London: Z/Yen. Retrieved 28 September 2023.

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