New York Tops 2026 Global Cities Index; Kathmandu Ranks 687th Worldwide

New York has emerged as the world’s top city in the 2026 Global Cities Index published by Oxford Economics. London and Paris secured the second and third positions, respectively. The index assesses 1,000 major cities worldwide across five broad categories: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance. The top 10 also include Seattle, San Francisco, Dublin, Boston, San Jose, Tokyo, and Zurich. Kathmandu ranked 687th overall in the global ranking. The Nepali capital stood at 670th in economics, 562nd in human capital, 840th in quality of life, 639th in environment, and 635th in governance. Oxford Economics combines performance across all five categories to determine each city's overall ranking. The assessment covers factors including economic conditions, workforce and skills, living standards, environmental conditions, and city governance. New York received a score of 100, followed by London with 98.8 and Paris with 93.4. The quality of life category considers indicators such as income, income inequality, housing costs, life expectancy, crime, and access to cultural and entertainment facilities. In individual category rankings, London topped human capital, Honolulu led the environment category, and Copenhagen ranked first in governance.