Dublin has ranked 27th in a list of the most competitive cities in the world.

The research commissioned by Citi ranks London as the most competitive city in Europe and the second most competitive city globally behind New York.

Analysing the characteristics of 120 cities, the report completed by the Economist Intelligence Unit measures competitiveness based on a city's ability to attract capital, business, talent and tourists.

New York was ranked as the most competitive city in the world, with Singapore ranking 3rd after London. Hong Kong was in joint fourth alongside Paris.

Zurich is also inside the top 10 while Frankfurt, Geneva, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Vienna all rank higher than Dublin.

Prague, Budapest and Lisbon were amongst the European cities ranked lowest for competitiveness.

Dublin, however, was ranked as the city with the best "human capital" in the world. Measured on the size of the city's working-age population, the quality of education, the entrepreneurial mindset among citizens, and the ease in hiring foreign nationals, Dublin came out top.

Hong Kong, Copenhagen, Paris and Geneva rounded out the top five with Tel Aviv scoring lowest on the quality of its workforce.

The report found that despite concerns over aging infrastructure and budget deficits, US and European cities remain the world's most competitive. Though the impact of the financial crisis has slowed plans for urban renewal, the report found that recession has not reduced the ability of US and European cities to attract capital, businesses, talent and tourists.

Asian cities dominated on "economic strength", which is the most highly-weighted category. All but five of the top 20 cities on this measure were Asian with 12 Chinese cities in the top 20.

The top 32 Asian cities are all forecast to grow by at least 5 per cent annually between now and 2016. Twelve of them will grow by at least 10 per cent. This contrasts with the low single digit growth of most developed market cities in Europe and the United States.