Business

Belfast slips down ranking as a European investment destination

Belfast has fallen down the rankings of European cities
Belfast has fallen down the rankings of European cities Belfast has fallen down the rankings of European cities

BELFAST has slipped down the rankings of European cities in an influential report on investment destinations.

FDI Intelligence, which is a specialist division of the Financial Times, regularly produces analysis measuring the strength of cities in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).

In December 2018, Belfast was recognised by FDI Intelligence as the second best city in the world for its FDI strategy. The same report placed Belfast as 14 in the overall ranking of global cities, behind locations such as Singapore, London, New York and Paris.

But a new report from FDI Intelligence has revealed Belfast has fallen down the table in many areas.

According to the FT entity, the European Cities and Regions of the Future 2020/21 report recognises ‘the best and the brightest among Europe’s investment destinations’.

Just over a year after being ranked as the best mid/small-sized city in the world for business friendliness, Belfast has slipped to number eight in the list of mid-sized European cities.

The city has also fallen out of the top ten European cities in the categories of human capital and lifestyle; cost effectiveness; and connectivity.

Belfast had ranked very highly in the global tables of all three measures at the end of 2018.

However the city has not completely disappeared from the tables. It has been ranked fifth in the table of mid-sized ‘European cities of the future’; and third for economic potential, behind only Zurich and Edinburgh.

Belfast is still considered among the best mid-sized European cities for its FDI strategy, coming in at second behind Lithuania’s capital Vilnius.