The 2021 Global Financial Centres Index 29 Report
18th March 2021 | Hong Kong
Z/Yen has released the 2021 Global Financial Centres Index 29 Report, providing evaluations of competitiveness and rankings for the major financial centres around the world.
” The top financial centre is New York “
The report is the 29th edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 29). The GFCI 29 researched 126 centres (114 + 12 pending inclusion in the main index).
GFCI 29 was compiled using 143 instrumental factors. These quantitative measures are provided by third parties including the World Bank, The Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD, and the UN. The instrumental factors were combined with 65,507 assessments of financial centres provided by 10,774 respondents to the GFCI online questionnaire. View: 2021 GFCI 29 Report
Related:
- The 2021 Global Financial Centres Index 29
- The 2021 Global Financial Centres Index 29 – Full Ranking
- The 2021 GFCI 29 Report
Key Highlights
- The top financial centre is New York
- The 2nd ranked financial centre is London
- The 3rd ranked financial centre is Shanghai
- The top 3 financial centres: New York, London & Shanghai
- The top 5 financial centres: New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong & Singapore
- The top 10 financial centres: New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Shenzhen, Frankfurt, Zurich
- 4 of the top 10 are China’s cities: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shenzhen
- 3 of the top 10 are European cities: London, Frankfurt, Zurich
- 6 of the top 10 are in Asia-Pacific: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Shenzhen
- Shanghai is the top financial centre in Asia-Pacific (APAC)
- The top 5 financial centres in APAC: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo
- Top 5 Banking Centre: New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, Beijing
- Top 5 Investment Mgmt Centre: New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai
- Top 5 Trading Centre: New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai
- Top 5 Insurance Centre: Shanghai, Singapore, Beijing, New York
GFCI 29 Headlines:

- New York continues to head up The Global Financial Centres Index Ratings
- London’s position challenged By leading Asian centres
1. GFCI 29 – Top 30 Global
Top 30 Global | Rank | Previous | |
1 | New York | 1 | 1 |
2 | London | 2 | 2 |
3 | Shanghai | 3 | 3 |
4 | Hong Kong | 4 | 5 |
5 | Singapore | 5 | 6 |
6 | Beijing | 6 | 7 |
7 | Tokyo | 7 | 4 |
8 | Shenzhen | 8 | 9 |
9 | Frankfurt | 9 | 16 |
10 | Zurich | 10 | 10 |
11 | Vancouver | 11 | 24 |
12 | San Francisco | 12 | 8 |
13 | Los Angeles | 13 | 11 |
14 | Washington DC | 14 | 19 |
15 | Chicago | 15 | 20 |
16 | Seoul | 16 | 25 |
17 | Luxembourg | 17 | 12 |
18 | Sydney | 18 | 32 |
19 | Dubai | 19 | 17 |
20 | Geneva | 20 | 14 |
21 | Edinburgh | 21 | 13 |
22 | Guangzhou | 22 | 21 |
23 | Melbourne | 23 | 27 |
24 | Boston | 24 | 15 |
25 | Paris | 25 | 18 |
26 | Milan | 26 | 38 |
27 | Montreal | 27 | 26 |
28 | Amsterdam | 28 | 22 |
29 | Toronto | 29 | 31 |
30 | Stuttgart | 30 | 37 |
Highlights:
- The top financial centre is New York
- The 2nd ranked financial centre is London
- The 3rd ranked financial centre is Shanghai
- The top 3 financial centres: New York, London & Shanghai
- The top 5 financial centres: New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong & Singapore
- The top 10 financial centres: New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Shenzhen, Frankfurt, Zurich
- 4 of the top 10 are China’s cities: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shenzhen
- 3 of the top 10 are European cities: London, Frankfurt, Zurich
- 6 of the top 10 are in Asia-Pacific: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Shenzhen
2. GFCI 29 – Top 15 Asia-Pacific
Top 15 APAC | APAC | Global | Previous | |
1 | Shanghai | 1 | 3 | 3 |
2 | Hong Kong | 2 | 4 | 5 |
3 | Singapore | 3 | 5 | 6 |
4 | Beijing | 4 | 6 | 7 |
5 | Tokyo | 5 | 7 | 4 |
6 | Shenzhen | 6 | 8 | 9 |
7 | Seoul | 7 | 16 | 25 |
8 | Sydney | 8 | 18 | 32 |
9 | Guangzhou | 9 | 22 | 21 |
10 | Melbourne | 10 | 23 | 27 |
11 | Osaka | 11 | 32 | 39 |
12 | Chengdu | 12 | 35 | 43 |
13 | Busan | 13 | 36 | 40 |
14 | Taipei | 14 | 40 | 42 |
15 | Qingdao | 15 | 42 | 47 |
Highlights:
- Shanghai is the top financial centre in Asia-Pacific (APAC)
- The 2nd ranked financial centre in APAC is Hong Kong
- The 3rd ranked financial centre in APAC is Singapore
- The top 3 financial centres in APAC: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore
- The top 5 financial centres in APAC: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo
- The top 10 financial centres in APAC: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Shenzhen, Seoul, Sydney, Guangzhou, Melbourne
- 5 of the top 10 financial centres in APAC are China’s cities: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou
- 2 of the top 10 financial centres in APAC are Australian’s cities: Sydney, Melbourne
3. Top 15 Financial Centre by Industry

Highlights
- Top 5 Banking Centre: New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, Beijing
- Top 5 Investment Mgmt Centre: New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai
- Top 5 Trading Centre: New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai
- Top 5 Insurance Centre: Shanghai, Singapore, Beijing, New York
4. Top 15 Financial Centre by Area of Competitiveness

Executive Chairman of Z/Yen, Professor Michael Mainelli:
“GFCI 29 ratings have not returned to the levels of 2019, reflecting a welter of instability in international trade, politics, and economics, not least large-scale interventions by central banks and questions about the future treatment of commercial banks, insurers, and payment providers. ‘Building back’ will see major changes to investments and taxation.
GFCI is most active on the Pacific Rim. Only 44 points on a thousand point scale separate the top 10 centres. A four point rise would place Singapore second only to New York. It’s tight at the top, and no time for complacency.”
Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council Chairman, Laurence Li :
“ In a global ranking, the relationship among markets is often seen as zero-sum. But the synergy which can be achieved through collaboration is what we intend to highlight further. “
Related:
- The 2021 Global Financial Centres Index 29
- The 2021 Global Financial Centres Index 29 – Full Ranking
- The 2021 GFCI 29 Report
More:
- 2020 Top 10 Largest Economy in the World by GDP
- 2020 Top 10 Largest Economy in the World by GDP – Table
- 2020 Top 50 Largest Economy in the World by GDP
- 2020 Top 50 Largest Economy in the World by GDP – Table
About GFCI 29
GFCI 29 rates 114 financial centres across the world combining assessments from financial professionals with quantitative data which form instrumental factors. GFCI 29 uses 65,507 financial centre assessments collected from 10,774 financial services professionals who responded to the GFCI online questionnaire. The GFCI is updated regularly and ratings change as assessments and instrumental factors change.
GFCI is part of the Long Finance initiative which undertakes research programmes on Financial Centre Futures, Sustainable Futures, Distributed Futures, Eternal Coin, and Meta-Commerce.
About Z/Yen
Z/Yen is the City of London’s leading commercial think-tank. Z/Yen was founded in 1994 to promote societal advance through better finance and technology.
In March 2007, Z/Yen and the City Of London released the first edition of the GFCI, which continues to provide evaluations of competitiveness and rankings for the major financial centres around the world. In July 2016, Z/Yen and the China Development Institute (CDI) in Shenzhen established a strategic partnership for research into financial centres. The GFCI is updated every March and September and receives considerable attention from the global financial community. The index serves as a valuable reference for policy and investment decisions.
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