The economic scale of major cities around the world is projected to expand significantly over the next 25 years, bringing substantial changes to the global urban economic rankings. While New York is expected to maintain its position as the world’s largest economic city in 2050, Los Angeles is projected to rise to 2nd place, with rapid growth anticipated for major Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen.
According to the ‘Global Cities Index 2026’ recently released by the economic research institution Oxford Economics, New York’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to increase from $2.60 trillion in 2025 to $6.39 trillion in 2050, maintaining its position as the world’s number one.
As the second-largest city domestically, LA economy 2050 is expected to expand more than 2.5 times from $1.42 trillion to $3.62 trillion during the same period, moving up one notch from its current 3rd place to 2nd place. The gap in economic size between New York and LA in 2050 is expected to reach approximately $2.77 trillion.
The most notable city is Shanghai. Ranked 12th in the world with a GDP of $780 billion in 2025, Shanghai is projected to grow more than fourfold to $3.26 trillion by 2050, leaping to 3rd place globally. Currently ranked 2nd, Tokyo will grow to $3.25 trillion but fall slightly behind Shanghai to 4th place, while London is expected to take 5th place with $3.17 trillion.
The remarkable rise of Chinese cities is also prominent. While no Chinese city is in the global top 10 urban economies in 2025, three cities are expected to enter the rankings by 2050: Shanghai at 3rd, Beijing at 6th ($2.63 trillion), and Shenzhen at 9th ($2.43 trillion).
U.S. cities will also maintain their top-tier status. San Francisco is projected to rank 7th with $2.49 trillion, Dallas 8th with $2.44 trillion, and Chicago 10th with $2.42 trillion. Conversely, Houston and Washington D.C., currently ranked 10th and 11th, are expected to fall outside the top 12 rankings by 2050.
Seoul, South Korea, ranks 6th globally with $970 billion in 2025, but its economic size is expected to grow about 2.5 times to $2.41 trillion by 2050. However, due to the rapid growth of Chinese cities, its ranking is projected to drop to 11th. Paris is likewise expected to decline from 5th place globally with $1.03 trillion to 12th place with $2.34 trillion in 2050.
By 2050, all of the world’s top 12 cities are projected to exceed $2 trillion in GDP. In particular, while America’s traditional economic centers maintain massive economic scales, the rapid growth of Asian megacities centered around China is analyzed to reshape the landscape of the global urban economy.
