The Most Dynamic Cities of 2025

An exclusive look at the 75 powerhouses of the coming urban revolution, brought to you by FP in partnership with the McKinsey Global Institute.

SEPT/OCT 2012

/ Population (millions) / GDP (billions of U.S. dollars) /
Rank / City / Country / 2010 / 2025 / 2010 / 2025 / Total Growth / %Growth /
1 / Shanghai / China / 22.3 / 30.9 / $250.7 / $1,112.2 / $861.5 / 344%
2 / Beijing / China / 18.8 / 29.6 / 206.2 / 1,027.9 / 821.7 / 398%
3 / Tianjin / China / 11.1 / 15.2 / 128.8 / 624.4 / 495.7 / 385%
4 / São Paulo / Brazil / 19.7 / 23.2 / 437.3 / 912.9 / 475.7 / 109%
5 / Guangzhou / China / 11.1 / 14.9 / 146.1 / 573.0 / 426.9 / 292%
6 / Shenzhen / China / 10.4 / 13.7 / 141.5 / 523.6 / 382.1 / 270%
7 / New York / United States / 18.9 / 19.7 / 1,180.3 / 1,553.1 / 372.7 / 32%
8 / Chongqing / China / 15.7 / 19.4 / 88.6 / 458.6 / 370.0 / 418%
9 / Moscow / Russia / 11.6 / 12.7 / 325.8 / 688.5 / 362.7 / 111%
10 / Tokyo / Japan / 36.4 / 36.7 / 1,874.7 / 2,218.6 / 343.9 / 18%
11 / Wuhan / China / 9.8 / 13.1 / 82.2 / 414.4 / 332.2 / 404%
12 / Los Angeles / United States / 12.9 / 15.0 / 731.8 / 1,051.5 / 319.7 / 44%
13 / Foshan / China / 7.2 / 10.8 / 83.5 / 383.6 / 300.1 / 360%
14 / Istanbul / Turkey / 11.0 / 14.9 / 188.2 / 479.7 / 291.5 / 155%
15 / Nanjing / China / 7.2 / 9.9 / 68.5 / 343.9 / 275.4 / 402%
16 / Chengdu / China / 7.7 / 11.2 / 57.8 / 309.6 / 251.7 / 435%
17 / Hangzhou / China / 6.2 / 8.8 / 70.5 / 307.0 / 236.5 / 335%
18 / Dongguan / China / 8.2 / 11.4 / 62.7 / 297.9 / 235.2 / 375%
19 / Singapore / Singapore / 5.1 / 5.8 / 222.7 / 454.1 / 231.4 / 104%
20 / Shenyang / China / 6.1 / 8.4 / 64.3 / 286.9 / 222.5 / 346%
21 / London / Britain / 14.9 / 16.2 / 751.8 / 972.9 / 221.1 / 29%
22 / Houston / United States / 6.0 / 7.7 / 341.1 / 559.9 / 218.8 / 64%
23 / Dallas / United States / 6.4 / 8.6 / 324.9 / 541.2 / 216.3 / 67%
24 / Xian / China / 6.5 / 9.1 / 40.6 / 253.3 / 212.6 / 523%
25 / Washington / United States / 5.6 / 6.6 / 392.2 / 599.7 / 207.5 / 53%
26 / Paris / France / 11.8 / 12.9 / 764.2 / 971.4 / 207.2 / 27%
27 / Suzhou / China / 4.1 / 6.5 / 52.7 / 257.5 / 204.8 / 389%
28 / Mexico City / Mexico / 20.1 / 21.6 / 255.1 / 459.5 / 204.4 / 80%
29 / Riyadh / Saudi Arabia / 5.2 / 8.1 / 122.7 / 325.6 / 202.9 / 165%
30 / Hong Kong / China / 7.1 / 8.2 / 224.5 / 423.6 / 199.1 / 89%
31 / Bangkok / Thailand / 6.9 / 9.4 / 105.0 / 299.6 / 194.6 / 185%
32 / Buenos Aires / Argentina / 13.1 / 15.2 / 191.7 / 384.3 / 192.6 / 100%
33 / Doha / Qatar / 1.3 / 1.6 / 98.8 / 275.1 / 176.3 / 179%
34 / Rio de Janeiro / Brazil / 11.8 / 13.6 / 180.9 / 356.1 / 175.2 / 97%
35 / Dalian / China / 3.9 / 5.7 / 53.8 / 225.7 / 171.9 / 319%
36 / Wuxi / China / 3.5 / 5.4 / 47.0 / 217.2 / 170.2 / 362%
37 / Seoul / South Korea / 9.8 / 9.5 / 233.3 / 400.3 / 167.0 / 72%
38 / Chicago / United States / 9.5 / 10.2 / 496.4 / 661.4 / 165.0 / 33%
39 / Delhi / India / 16.3 / 21.4 / 47.6 / 211.4 / 163.9 / 344%
40 / Ningbo / China / 3.5 / 5.1 / 45.0 / 205.7 / 160.8 / 358%
41 / Jinan / China / 4.3 / 5.7 / 43.2 / 193.4 / 150.2 / 348%
42 / Xiamen / China / 3.5 / 5.3 / 30.4 / 179.8 / 149.3 / 491%
43 / Jakarta / Indonesia / 9.6 / 12.8 / 70.7 / 218.4 / 147.7 / 209%
44 / Miami / United States / 5.6 / 7.2 / 235.9 / 380.2 / 144.34 / 61%
45 / Kuwait City / Kuwait / 2.3 / 3.2 / 117.5 / 261.8 / 144.33 / 123%
46 / Qingdao / China / 3.7 / 5.1 / 48.1 / 190.1 / 142.0 / 295%
47 / Sydney / Australia / 4.6 / 5.8 / 268.9 / 410.6 / 141.8 / 53%
48 / Atlanta / United States / 5.3 / 6.8 / 249.7 / 391.4 / 141.7 / 57%
49 / Brasilia / Brazil / 3.7 / 5.0 / 101.6 / 242.6 / 141.03 / 139%
50 / Taipei / Taiwan / 6.8 / 6.9 / 160.3 / 301.3 / 141.00 / 88%
51 / Rhine-Ruhr / Germany / 11.3 / 11.1 / 484.6 / 625.0 / 140.4 / 29%
52 / Toronto / Canada / 5.7 / 7.0 / 270.0 / 409.9 / 139.9 / 52%
53 / Mumbai / India / 18.2 / 22.5 / 55.9 / 192.7 / 136.8 / 245%
54 / Phoenix / United States / 4.2 / 5.9 / 181.6 / 317.5 / 135.9 / 75%
55 / Harbin / China / 5.9 / 7.6 / 38.8 / 172.9 / 134.0 / 345%
56 / Changzhou / China / 3.3 / 4.8 / 34.3 / 166.2 / 131.9 / 385%
57 / San Francisco / United States / 4.3 / 5.0 / 283.3 / 410.7 / 127.3 / 45%
58 / Hefei / China / 3.4 / 4.8 / 31.2 / 154.8 / 123.6 / 396%
59 / Jeddah / Saudi Arabia / 3.5 / 5.2 / 75.9 / 196.9 / 121.0 / 159%
60 / Melbourne / Australia / 4.1 / 5.2 / 221.4 / 341.7 / 120.3 / 54%
61 / Luanda / Angola / 4.8 / 8.9 / 38.6 / 155.6 / 117.0 / 303%
62 / Xuzhou / China / 3.1 / 4.5 / 22.4 / 134.1 / 111.7 / 499%
63 / Tel Aviv-Jaffa / Israel / 3.3 / 4.3 / 114.8 / 225.9 / 111.0 / 97%
64 / Changsha / China / 3.1 / 4.3 / 40.3 / 150.1 / 109.8 / 272%
65 / Abu Dhabi / United Arab Emirates / 0.8 / 1.6 / 67.1 / 175.9 / 108.8 / 162%
66 / Lima / Peru / 9.2 / 11.8 / 77.3 / 184.7 / 107.3 / 139%
67 / Belo Horizonte / Brazil / 5.4 / 6.6 / 78.5 / 185.3 / 106.9 / 136%
68 / Fuzhou / China / 2.9 / 4.2 / 23.4 / 130.0 / 106.6 / 456%
69 / Ankara / Turkey / 4.1 / 5.7 / 64.9 / 170.3 / 105.4 / 162%
70 / San Diego / United States / 3.1 / 3.9 / 172.9 / 277.5 / 104.6 / 61%
71 / Philadelphia / United States / 6.0 / 6.3 / 314.5 / 418.6 / 104.1 / 33%
72 / Tangshan / China / 3.0 / 3.7 / 33.6 / 137.6 / 104.0 / 309%
73 / Santiago / Chile / 6.1 / 7.3 / 93.0 / 196.8 / 103.8 / 112%
74 / Seattle / United States / 3.4 / 4.1 / 211.0 / 314.3 / 103.3 / 49%
75 / Bangalore / India / 8.2 / 11.3 / 28.6 / 128.8 / 100.2 / 350%

Ranked by projected absolute GDP growth 2012-2025 at predicted real exchange rates.
Source: McKinsey Global Institute Cityscope database 2.0.