Ranking of the world's leading cities. Warsaw dominates in one category

The ranking included 11 cities from Poland. Warsaw took a very high, 170th place, which the authors of the report classified as a regional leader. The strongest point of the Polish capital turned out to be the quality of life. Together with Rome, Warsaw moved up in the ranking, while such European cities as Zurich and Lyon fell.

Wrocław was slightly lower than Warsaw, in 175th place. Poznań was in 176th place, followed by Kraków (215th), Gdańsk (217th), Lublin (279th), Szczecin (305th), Białystok (310th), Katowice (352nd), Bydgoszcz (363rd) and Łódź (562nd). The strongest point of each of them is also a high quality of life.

Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2025: The world's leading cities

There are few changes in the top ten from last year: eight cities remain in the top ten. New York remains in the lead, followed by London. Both cities are leaders in terms of economic indicators and human capital, leading global financial, business and educational centers.

The top five also includes Paris, San Jose (USA) and Seattle. Interestingly, they are ahead of New York and London in terms of quality of life. Sydney moved up to the top ten in seventh place (due to high quality of life and environment) and Boston in eighth place (thanks to improved economic indicators). The group of 50 leading cities of our globe includes such European cities as Dublin, Stockholm, Zurich, Oslo, Copenhagen, Munich, Geneva, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, Helsinki, Hamburg, Basel, Madrid, Bern and Gothenburg.

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The report’s authors note certain changes in the economic development of individual cities that, in their opinion, will change the global balance of power in the future. They predict that over the next quarter-century, cities in India will gain in importance.

In addition, some of the most dynamically developing centers are located in Africa and Southeast Asia. Currently, their share in global GDP is small, but according to experts, their role will grow in the coming decades.