Dublin climbs six places in financial centre rankings

Dublin has moved up six places in the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) over the last year.

The Republic’s capital is ranked 48 on this year’s list, which was published on Wednesday, up from 52 on the 2014 edition.

Its author Mark Yeandle singles out the city’s performance amongst western European financial centres over the last year.

“Of the 29 centres in this region, 23 centres rose in the ratings with Dublin doing particularly well,” he notes.

London topped the index, swapping places with New York, which was ranked number one last year, but has been demoted to number two, the position that the British capital occupied 12 months ago.

However, two other US cities, San Fransisco and Washington, also feature in the top 10.

Asian centres Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul fill the third, fourth, fifth and sixth spots in that order.

At number seven, Zurich is the next highest-ranked European financial centre after London.

Commercial think-tank, Z/Yen, publishes the GFCI. The rankings are decided by a detailed methodology and on-line questionaire that take into account a wide range of factors, including competitiveness, available skills and occupancy rates.