Nicosia tops FT rankings for human capital and lifestyle

Nicosia has topped the Financial Times supplement FDI Intelligence’s rankings for human capital and lifestyle in small European cities for the fourth consecutive year, the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) announced on Thursday.

Issued by the bimonthly publication, ‘European Cities and Regions of the Future 2022/23’ benchmarked locations for their attractiveness to foreign direct investment (FDI).

The annual study highlights promising investment destinations across Europe, grouping and assessing cities by population size. There are five categories – major, large, mid-sized, small, and microcities – which are ranked based on data collected across five subcategories: economic potential, business friendliness, connectivity, human capital and lifestyle, and cost effectiveness.

The latest study considered 553 areas and cities across Europe, of which the 148 were small, mid-sized and large cities.

London topped the overall scores for major cities, “retaining its status as a leading magnet for foreign investors” despite Brexit.

But according to the study, which can be read online here, other European capitals such as Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin placed in the top 10 major cities category “as they refined their offer following Brexit to some degree of success”.

Basel, Switzerland placed first overall in the small cities category (cities with a population between 100,000 – 300,000) as it is home to the headquarters of several major life science companies, while Nicosia ranked first with regards to human capital and lifestyle.

According to NCCI, this is thanks to the fact the capital boasts five universities and several trade schools, as well as hospitals, research centres and institutes.

Nicosia also hosts a large industrial infrastructure, tech companies, startup centres and the headquarters of several multinational corporations, the chamber said.

According to the study, “European locations have proven a certain degree of resilience to the inevitable investment fallout of the pandemic”.