Global Financial Centres Index

The first index was published in March 2007. It has been jointly published twice per year by Z/Yen Group in London and the China Development Institute in Shenzhen since 2015, and is widely quoted as a top source for ranking financial centres.

The latest thirty-fourth edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 34) was published on 28 September 2023. GFCI 34 provides evaluations of future competitiveness and rankings for 121 financial centres around the world. Rankings are based on around 10,000 qualitative surveys from respondents working in financial services and related industries combined with 153 quantitative factors, with measures from the World Bank, The Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD and United Nations. The 2023 report ranks New York at the top position followed by London and Singapore. Only the top 20 are shown in the following table:

Rank	Centre	Rating	Change in rank	Change in rating
1	New York City	763		3
2	London	744		13
3	Singapore	742		19
4	Hong Kong	741		19
5	San Francisco	735		14
6	Los Angeles	734		15
7	Shanghai	733		16
8	Washington, D.C.	732	3	19
9	Chicago	731	1	15
10	Geneva	730	13	29
11	Seoul	729	1	15
12	Shenzhen	728		16
13	Beijing	727		16
14	Frankfurt	726	3	19
15	Paris	725	1	15
16	Luxembourg	724	3	19
17	Boston	723	8	8
18	Zürich	722	2	18
19	Amsterdam	721	3	13
20	Tokyo	720	1	17

The latest report ranked 120 international financial centres into the following matrix:

(*) 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.

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

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.

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.

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