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Tel Aviv has taken 34th place in an annual ranking of the world’s 1,000 largest cities, coming ahead of every other city in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index ranks the cities across five major metrics – economics; human capital; quality of life; environment; and governance – providing an assessment of each location’s strengths, weaknesses and “future potential”.
Tel Aviv achieved a top-20 spot when it comes to economics, coming in 16th, while it narrowly missed out on making the top 30 in the human capital category, ranking 31st in this area.
However, it performed less strongly in the quality of life, environment and governance arenas. For quality of life it came 156th, for environment its ranking was 234th and where governance was concerned it came in at 401st place.
Oxford Economics, a global advisory firm, attributed the city’s strong economic performance in part to its technology sector, noting its “Silicon Wadi” ecosystem is home to startups and established companies working in industries including defence, finance and biotechnology.
Tel Aviv’s metropolitan economy was valued at approximately $267 billion (£197bn) with GDP per person standing at $86,300 (£64,600) and a population of 3.1 million.
The report also highlighted the contribution of Tel Aviv University and Bar-Ilan University to research and development, particularly in fields linked to the technology sector.
It said Tel Aviv had one of the highest rates of educational attainment in the Middle East and North Africa, supported by a highly skilled workforce and concentration of high-paying technology jobs.
In the quality of life category, researchers identified strong income per person and high life expectancy as advantages, while noting that high housing costs remained a challenge.
The report also pointed to the relatively low carbon intensity of Tel Aviv’s economy, reflecting the importance of technology and professional services.
However, regional geopolitical instability affected the city’s governance ranking.
Oxford Economics said: “Tel Aviv remains slated to perform well in the rankings in the coming years from a structural standpoint,” while warning that continued regional instability presented risks.
Tel Aviv was one of only three Middle Eastern cities included in the global top 50.
New York City, Paris and London took the top three spots overall, in that order, with Seattle and San Francisco completing the top five.
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