LONDON, 7 November 2024 –
London is perceived as the world’s top city, but Dubai outperforms it in reputation, according to the latest Brand Finance Global City Index, the most comprehensive global survey of city perceptions.
The 2024 results are based on a survey of over 15,000 respondents across 20 countries, offering a detailed look at how the world’s leading city brands are viewed. Respondents were asked to rate 100 cities on Key Performance Indicators: Familiarity, Reputation, and Consideration, indicating how strongly these cities are perceived as places people would want to live, work, study, visit, retire, and invest in. In addition, respondents chose from 45 attributes grouped under seven pillars, including Culture & Heritage or Business & Investment, that they associated with city brands.
Dubai has climbed four spots in the Index this year, now ranking as the world’s 5th best city brand out of 100 cities, behind London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo. Dubai’s strong reputation is matched by its top rank in the Business & Investment pillar, with the city perceived as having the second-best strong and stable economy and the highest future growth potential.
"Dubai's rise to become the world’s fifth-best city brand is primarily driven by its achievement of ranking first globally for reputation. This enhanced perception underscores the effectiveness of the UAE government's strategic investments in infrastructure, tourism, and the business ecosystem. The substantial improvements in Dubai’s consideration metrics further highlight the city’s increasing allure as a premier destination for visitors, residents, businesses, and global investors."
David Haigh, Chairman and CEO of Brand Finance
London retains its position as the world’s best city brand. London continues to perform well in familiarity and reputation, ranking 2nd for Education & Science and 3rd for Culture & Heritage too. However, London is ranked 19th in Consideration, with respondents indicating they do not perceive it among the best cites to live in, work in, invest in, or retire in – perhaps due to a high cost of living, underscored by its 97th out of 100 rank for affordability.
“London continues to shine as the world’s best city brand thanks to its strong international presence, rich cultural identity, and renowned educational institutions. However, challenges like affordability and perceived bureaucracy, including post-Brexit visa complexities, impact its image. While London ranks high for global significance and strong economy, its scores in liveability suggest room for improvement in how the city is perceived by international audiences. Strengthening these perceptions will be key for London to maintain its global appeal."
Konrad Jagodzinski, Place Branding Director at Brand Finance
New York retains 2nd place in the top 100 and is recognised as the world’s top city of global significance. However, the city faces challenges in Governance, where it ranks a low 65th, notably following the mayor’s recent involvement in a significant corruption case. On the back of hosting the 2024 Olympics, Paris retains 3rd rank, with the highest perceptions in the Culture & Heritage pillar. Tokyo climbs to 4th rank overall, owing to its perception as the world’s leader in science and technology. However, there is a gap between its strong position overall and its lower Consideration ranking (43rd), driven by its poor scores for language familiarity (76th) and how hard it is to get a visa (73rd).
Though essential for overall success, Brand Finance data reveals that global familiarity is not necessary to develop an edge in a specific dimension. For example, a relatively smaller city like Zurich is perceived as the best place to work in for the second year running, while Melbourne, a regional rather than a global hub, is recognised as the best city to live and retire in.
“The 2024 study reveals that familiarity can be a double-edged sword. For example, while London remains the world’s best city brand overall, its perceptions across certain metrics have weakened this year. It is no longer considered the world’s top city to visit – overtaken by Rome, or to study in – where Boston is now top of class. These findings provide valuable insights into the changing perceptions and priorities of residents and visitors, which can help guide decision makers in cities across the world in implementing effective strategies to drive growth.”
David Haigh, Chairman and CEO of Brand Finance
Breakdown of top cities across regions
With the introduction of regional expansions, including the Brand Finance US City Index launched earlier this year, the study helps local governments and destination marketing organisations across the world to understand their city brands better.
For a detailed breakdown of the rankings and insights into the global city brands, visit the full report at brandfinance.com/globalcityindex
Note to Editors
Presented by brand evaluation consultancy Brand Finance, the Brand Finance Global City Index is based on a global survey of over 15,000 members of the public conducted in September 2024 in 20 countries on all continents to measure perceptions of the world’s top 100 city brands.
To arrive at a comprehensive assessment of the city brands in the ranking, alongside measuring Familiarity, the survey asked the respondents about the general Reputation and their personal Consideration of each city as a place to live, work locally, work remotely, study, retire, visit, or invest in. The evaluation of preferences across these seven dimensions was complemented by perceptions of 45 underlying city brand attributes, grouped under seven Pillars (Business & Investment, Liveability, Culture & Heritage, People & Values, Sustainability & Transport, Governance, and Education & Science).
To ensure comparability among the top 100, the Index excludes domestic perceptions about city brands, taking into account those of foreign respondents only. Nevertheless, the domestic perceptions were also measured in the survey and are available for the 20 countries where the research was conducted.
About Brand Finance
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand evaluation and strategy consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance for more than 25 years, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations of all kinds make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance has offices in over 20 countries, offering services on all continents. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 5,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
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Disclaimer
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable if the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any individual, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
