Singapore is again ranked 5th ‘most powerful’ city, although livability rating drops due to inflation

SINGAPORE: On the Global Power City Index (GPCI) 2025, Singapore has again ranked fifth in the world, a position it has held since 2009.

However, while the city-state continues to show strength in terms of the economy, biodiversity, and urban greenery, it has slipped down the ranking when it comes to livability, in large part due to inflation and price levels.

The latest rankings, published last month by the Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies, evaluate the urban competitiveness of 48 major cities across the globe and rank them based on their “magnetism,” or their power to attract individuals, capital, and enterprises from all over the world.

The index measures six functions: economy, research and development, cultural interaction, livability, environment, and accessibility. This way, the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of each city can be easily seen.

Singapore’s highest ranking is for economy (4th), and it is in the top 10 for accessibility and cultural interaction. For livability, however, the city-state ranks 31st.

Top 10

Here are GPCI’s most recent top 10 cities:

1. London
2. Tokyo
3. New York
4. Paris
5. Singapore
6. Seoul
7. Amsterdam
8. Shanghai,
9. Dubai
10. Berlin

London has been at the top spot on the index since 2012, although it saw a decline in its overall score. It is in pole position for cultural interaction and accessibility, and is number two for economy, research and development. However, London was ranked 13th for livability and 18th for environment.

Meanwhile, after coming in third for nine years in a row since 2016, Tokyo has changed places on the index with New York, due to the significant uptick in its overall score in spite of a decrease in its ranking for economy, as it is now in 12th place.

However, when it comes to livability, Tokyo took first place, and came in second for cultural interaction, and third for research and development.

Significantly, New York saw the largest decline in overall score among the 48 cities on the index. While still ranked number one for economy and research and development, it is now in 44th place when it comes to livability, and is in last place for the price level subcategory.

East vs West

The full report may be found here.

It notes the “remarkable rise of East Asian cities and the stagnation of several Western cities,” which shows how challenges across the globe, including geopolitical tensions and regional disparities in inflation, are affecting key cities.

While cities such as Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, and Beijing have gone up the list, a number of Western cities have seen a decline in their rankings, including Amsterdam, Zurich, Barcelona, and Vienna. /TISG

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