Skyline of Cebu City from Cebu Business Park. | CDN Digital Photo by Morexette Marie Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City has been ranked 470th among the world’s best cities to live in for 2025, according to a new report from UK-based consulting firm Oxford Economics.
The city landed just behind Nanchang, China, in the latest Global Cities Index, which evaluates the 1,000 largest urban centers across five key dimensions: economy, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance.
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“These urban hubs attract residents due to their rapid productivity growth and higher-than-average income levels compared to their countries as a whole,” the report stated.
Cebu City scored its highest mark in the environment category, placing 156th worldwide. It also posted mid-range rankings in economy (371st) and human capital or workforce (504th).
However, the city struggled in other areas: it ranked 604th in governance and 697th in quality of life, pointing to ongoing challenges in public services and living standards.
Philippine cities in the global ranking
A total of nine Philippine cities made it to this year’s Global Cities Index, and all were classified as Emerging Standouts:
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Manila – 206th
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Cebu City – 470th
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Angeles City – 488th
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Bacolod City – 518th
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Davao City – 519th
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Cagayan de Oro – 577th
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Dagupan City – 581st
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General Santos – 835th
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Zamboanga City – 861st
Top 10 cities in the world
New York City topped the Global Cities Index, followed by London and Paris.
Only one Asian city made it to the top 10: Tokyo, Japan. The rest of the list was dominated by cities from the United States—San Jose, San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle—as well as Melbourne and Sydney from Australia.
Oxford Economics noted that cities were evaluated using a range of measurable indicators within each category, with normalized scores weighted in order to come up with the final rankings.