Seven cities from Keralam have found a place in the Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2026, with Thrissur emerging as the state’s highest-ranked urban centre, ahead of the larger commercial hub of Kochi.
Thrissur is ranked 477th among 1,000 cities worldwide, followed closely by Kochi at 489 and Kozhikode at 499. Kollam is placed 623rd, Thiruvananthapuram 624th, Kottayam 696th and Kannur 772nd.
The ranking is significant because it does not measure cities purely on the size of their economies. Oxford Economics evaluates urban centres across five broad pillars—Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment and Governance—and combines them into an overall score. The assessment also incorporates the consultancy's economic forecasts, making the index partly forward-looking rather than simply a snapshot of historical data.
Thrissur recorded an overall index score of 42.2. Its strongest showing is in Environment, where it scored 65.8, while the scores for Governance and Quality of Life were 57.4 and 49.5 respectively. Its Economics score stood at 45.3 and Human Capital at 33.8.
The city's position also reflects the unusual structure of Thrissur's economy. It is an important centre for banking, finance, jewellery, retail and entrepreneurship, alongside traditional and small-scale industries. Thrissur is a financial hub and has a vibrant presence in textiles, agro-processing and small manufacturing. The district is also a major centre for the gold and jewellery industry.
thrissur's Gross District Value Added at current prices increased from about ₹1.05 lakh crore in 2023-24 to ₹1.16 lakh crore in 2024-25.
Kochi, with an overall score of 41.6, is only 12 places behind Thrissur. Interestingly, Kochi performs better in Human Capital, scoring 42.2 against Thrissur's 33.8. However, it scores lower in Environment at 58.5 and Quality of Life at 45.5.
The result does not diminish Kochi's position as Keralam's biggest economic centre. Ernakulam recorded the state's highest district GDVA of nearly ₹1.50 lakh crore in 2024-25. Kochi also benefits from the presence of Cochin Port, Cochin Shipyard, Infopark, an international airport, tourism and a large services and retail economy.
Kozhikode, meanwhile, is just inside the global top 500 at 499, reinforcing the relatively broad geographical spread of Keralam's urban economy rather than dominance by a single metropolis.
Among Indian cities, Delhi is the highest ranked at 268, followed by Bengaluru at 311 and Mumbai at 330. Chennai is ranked 381, Hyderabad 421 and Pune 427. Thrissur therefore remains well behind India's largest metropolitan economies, but ranks above Kolkata, which is placed 496th.
Oxford Economics expects Asian cities to become increasingly important in the global urban economy. It says Chinese and Indian cities are likely to remain at the forefront of global growth, supported by their large populations and rising productivity and incomes.
Globally, New York retains the No.1 position, followed by London and Paris. Seattle is fourth, San Francisco fifth, Dublin sixth, Boston seventh, San Jose eighth, Tokyo ninth and Zurich tenth. Europe and North America still dominate the upper end of the ranking, accounting for 78 of the world's top 100 cities.
For Keralam, however, the bigger takeaway is the presence of seven cities in a global comparison of 1,000 urban economies. The results point towards a decentralised development pattern in which commercial activity, services, finance and human development are spread across several urban centres rather than concentrated entirely in Kochi or the state capital.
