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

New York has been ranked the world’s leading city in the 2026 Global Cities Index published by Oxford Economics. London and Paris secured the second and third positions, respectively. The index evaluates 1,000 major cities worldwide based on five broad areas: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance. Seattle ranked fourth, followed by San Francisco, Dublin, Boston, San Jose, Tokyo, and Zurich in the top 10.

Kathmandu ranked 687th overall in the global list. Among the five areas, the Nepali capital ranked 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 areas to determine the overall position, covering factors such as economic conditions, workforce, living conditions, environmental situation, and city management.

New York received a score of 100, followed by London at 98.8 and Paris at 93.4. The quality of life assessment considers factors including income, income inequality, housing costs, life expectancy, crime, and access to entertainment and cultural facilities. In other category rankings, London led human capital, Honolulu topped the environment category, and Copenhagen ranked first for governance.

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