A PwC benchmark of 30 major business cities puts Singapore in second place only to London, while New York does not get into the top five.

A ranking of 30 major business centres puts London at the top of the heap with Singapore in second place, highlighting how the Asian city-state is putting pressure on rival hubs such as Hong Kong, Zurich and even New York.

The Cities of Opportunity Index, compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, aims to offer a benchmark of the economic and social health of business cities, measuring performance against 10 indicators such as transport, infrastructure, ease of doing business, liveability, cost, and technology readiness.

Toronto ranks third in the list, with Paris and Amsterdam fourth and fifth, respectively. European cities take four of the top-ten slots. New York City is at sixth, with Stockholm in seventh place.

PwC noted that because its methodology and data is based mostly on the two years before the UK decision to exit the EU, the Brexit vote does not impact London's position in the Index this year. 
Bob Moritz, Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers International, comments:

"The consistent performance of cities like London, Paris, Singapore and New York within the top ten of Cities of Opportunity shows that it's not only economic prosperity that drives success. Good quality of life in the city plays a fundamental role in their ability to attract and retain the globally mobile talent they need,” Hazem Galal, cities and local government sector leader at PwC, said.

The report is based on publicly available data, using three main sources: global multilateral development organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; national statistics organisations, such as National Statistics in the UK and the Census Bureau in the US; and commercial data providers. The data was collected during the third and fourth quarters of 2015.

Cities included in the report are: Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Bogotá, Chicago, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.

(Editor's comment: It could be asked what is the benefit to our readers of seeing such studies and rankings. One potential insight is that they can help business managers work out where might be the most suitable places to locate, either for booking centres or representative offices, and also, where best to locate for hiring and retaining staff. It is notable, for example, that Hong Kong doesn't make it into the top five, but Singapore does, while the report also shows that for all the noise around Brexit, London's overall prowess remains. And Switzerland, let it be noted, is not in top five, either, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the citizens of Zurich or Geneva should be gloomy. These reports can capture some of the reasons for why wealth managers want to be in a particular city but they cannot tell the full story.)