Melbourne Was Ranked Among The Top 10 Of The Global Cities Index

Melbourne does pretty well for itself on the global stage, with regular appearances on the Most Liveable Cities list, and a spot in the top 10 of Asia-Pacific’s Best Cities list earlier this year. And now, we’ve got a new ranking to be proud of, with an appearance in the Top 10 of the Global Cities Index. This list by Oxford Economics ranks the top cities around the world. These rankings are determined by five categories: Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment, and Governance. Melbourne was the highest Australian city on the Global Cities Index, coming in at number 6. Sydney followed closely behind in 7th place.

Global Cities Index 2025

Melbourne was celebrated in the Human Capital category, thanks to its many excellent universities, as well as fast-growing economy, which makes the city attractive for immigrants and foreign workers.

In terms of the Economics category, Melbourne had a strong performance thanks to a variety of different metrics. It’s the second-largest Australian city by GDP, and has a diversified economy with a “large business services sector and leading research facilities in healthcare”. This has allowed the city to grow at a high but stable rate.

As for Quality of Life, Melbourne did well thanks to a high life expectancy due to its healthcare system. It was also considered a safe city with a low crime rate. However, housing unaffordability was noted as one of the city’s weaknesses, bringing down our score.

Melbourne’s low emissions and the presence of few heavy industries meant that the city ranked within the top ten per cent of all cities in the Environment category. And like the rest of Australia, the city received high marks for Governance thanks to “high quality government institutions and democratic system”.

Here are the top cities:

1. New York
2. London
3. Paris
4. San Jose
5. Seattle
6. Melbourne
7. Sydney
8. Boston
9. Tokyo
10. San Francisco

What about the rest of Australia?

Brisbane just missed out on the top 20, coming in at number 23. Meanwhile, Perth was ranked at 31. Canberra was in the 52nd spot, followed closely behind by Adelaide at 54. Finally, the Gold Coast was ranked at 69.