In 2024, London was the most attractive city worldwide according to the Global Power City Index (GCPI), with a score of ******. New York City and Tokyo followed with ****** and ****** points respectively. The Global Power City Index (GPCI) provides a ranking of global cities based on the following criteria: economy, research and development, cultural interaction, livability, environment, and accessibility. It is an assessment of city's power to attract people, businesses and capital from all over the world.

In 2024, Paris was the most livable city worldwide according to the Global Power City Index (GCPI), with ******points. Furthermore, Madrid was the second most livable city with ******points, while Tokyo was the third with ******points. The criteria taken into consideration include, among others, costs and ease of living, number of retail shops and restaurants, and availability of medical services.

In 2024, New York was the most attractive city worldwide in the research and development (R&D) category according to the Global Power City Index (GCPI), with ***** points. Out of the top ten cities within the R&D category, five are located within the United States, while the other five are located across Europe (London and Paris) and Asia (Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong.) The criteria taken into consideration include, among others, the number of scientists working in the R&A industry, availability of R&A funding, and the number of launched start-ups.

In 2024, Copenhagen was the most environmentally friendly city worldwide according to the Global Power City Index (GCPI), with ***** points. Stockholm followed with ****points, while Vienna came third with *****. Eight out of the ten top cities are located in Europe.The criteria taken into consideration include, among others, sustainability, air quality and comfort, and urban environment.

In 2023, the capital city of Manila in the Philippines ranked 70 out of 156 cities for the Global Cities Index Ranking - two places lower than the previous year. The ranking is determined by totaling the weighted averages of five dimensions - business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement.

London was the most attractive financial center in Western Europe as of September 2024. According to five broad areas of competitiveness that the ranking was built on (business environment, human capital, infrastructure, financial sector development, and reputation), London received *** points. Frankfurt ranked second, with a rating of ***. According to the Global Power City Index (GPCI), London was also the most attractive city worldwide for its economy, research and development, cultural interaction, livability, environment, and accessibility. Financial employment in the UK In 2022, the value added in the finance and insurance services sector in the United Kingdom as a percentage of total GDP was one of the largest in Europe. However, total employment in the financial services sector overall decreased since 2008. The mean weekly wage of full-time employees in the financial and insurance sector also dropped and never recovered from a sharp decrease in 2018. Largest European financial institutions In 2023, HSBC topped the list of the largest European banks in terms of total assets. With more than *** trillion U.S. dollars, the UK-based giant ranked before BNP Paribas, the largest banking institution in France.

According to the latest results of IFDAQ's Global Cities Consumer IPX (Index), by 2030 Paris is expected to become the leading city for fashion, with an index value of ***** points. IFDAQ's forecast for 2030 put New York and London in the second and third place, respectively.The index measures global cities taking into account factors such as GDP, brand presence, wealth, consumption and creative power.

At **** U.S. dollars, Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world, according to the January 2025 Big Mac index. Concurrently, the cost of a Big Mac was **** dollars in the U.S., and **** U.S. dollars in the Euro area. What is the Big Mac index? The Big Mac index, published by The Economist, is a novel way of measuring whether the market exchange rates for different countries’ currencies are overvalued or undervalued. It does this by measuring each currency against a common standard – the Big Mac hamburger sold by McDonald’s restaurants all over the world. Twice a year the Economist converts the average national price of a Big Mac into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at that point in time. As a Big Mac is a completely standardized product across the world, the argument goes that it should have the same relative cost in every country. Differences in the cost of a Big Mac expressed as U.S. dollars therefore reflect differences in the purchasing power of each currency. Is the Big Mac index a good measure of purchasing power parity? Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the idea that items should cost the same in different countries, based on the exchange rate at that time. This relationship does not hold in practice. Factors like tax rates, wage regulations, whether components need to be imported, and the level of market competition all contribute to price variations between countries. The Big Mac index does measure this basic point – that one U.S. dollar can buy more in some countries than others. There are more accurate ways to measure differences in PPP though, which convert a larger range of products into their dollar price. Adjusting for PPP can have a massive effect on how we understand a country’s economy. The country with the largest GDP adjusted for PPP is China, but when looking at the unadjusted GDP of different countries, the U.S. has the largest economy.