New York & London Lead The Global Financial Centres Index 30 While Asia/Pacific Centres Falter

The 30th edition of the Global Financial Centres Index 30, was published today by Z/Yen Group in partnership with the China Development Institute (CDI). The launch webinar for GFCI 30 linked London and Busan.

New York held onto the top position in the index and has now been in first place for three years.

London remained in second place, while Hong Kong and Singapore in third and fourth position both fell 25 points in the ratings.

Overall the average rating fell 12.9 points (2.05%). While a small change, this is the third consecutive fall in the average rating.

The fact that overall ratings continue to fall against the levels that we saw in 2019 reflects the continuing uncertainty around international trade, the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, and geopolitical and local unrest.

Asia/Pacific centres generally fell in the ratings in GFCI 30, and assessments from people based in Asia/Pacific suggest that they judge Chinese centres in particular less favourably than before. This might suggest that the economic gains in the region arising from covid-19 may be levelling off.

North American centres performed well in GFCI 30. This is likely to reflect renewed optimism about the US and Canadian economies as they move forward from the pandemic.

The relatively strong performance of New York and London suggests that the financial services sectors in these cities managed to sustain their performance despite radical changes in working practices during the last 18 months.

Kigali and Lagos join the index for the first time, recognising the growth of financial services in Africa.

The top 20 centres in GFCI 30 are shown in the table below.

FinTech

New York and Shanghai retained first and second positions in the GFCI 30 FinTech ranking, with London rising two places to third place.

In the top 40 positions, Western European centres performed well, with most gaining rank position.

Professor Michael Mainelli, Executive Chairman of Z/Yen, said:

We see two patterns in the results for GFCI 30 – confidence in the recovery of the North American and Western European economies following the shock of 2020; and a levelling off following the rapid rise of Asia/Pacific centres and their economic stability in the covid-19 pandemic. Competition remains tight. Outside the top two centres, only five points on a 1,000 point scale separate the centres ranked third to eighth.