‘17 of 20 fastest-growing cities in the world will be from India’

NEW DELHI: The list of fastest growing cities is dominated by India with 17 among the top 20 cities in the world, according to a global economic research report.

“When future GDP growth rates are compared, the story is mostly very different. In particular, 17 of the 20 fastest-growing cities in the world between 2019 and 2035 will be Indian, with Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai among the strongest performers,” said a report from Oxford Economics, a research house engaged in global forecasting and quantitative analysis.

Surat tops the list of top 10 fastest growing cities in the world between 2019 and 2035, followed by Agra and Bengaluru. Hyderabad is in the fourth place, followed by Nagpur, Tirupur, Rajkot, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai and Vijayawada. Surat is a major diamond trading and processing centre and also has a strong IT sector.

Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai are best known as technology hubs and home to large financial services firms. Outside of India, Phnom Penh is the fastest-growing city in the world in the 2019-2035 forecast, with Dar es Salaam the leader among African cities. In terms of population in 2035, Mumbai figures in the top 10 cities.


“By 2035, the combined GDP of Indian cities will still be very small compared with Chinese (or indeed, North American and European) cities. However, in terms of GDP growth, it is Indian cities that are the star performers in our forecast,” said Richard Holt, head of global cities research at Oxford Economics. However, Chinese cities will contribute significantly when it comes to aggregate GDP. Shanghai will join London as the world’s fourth-largest urban economy in 2035.


According to the forecast, in 2027, the aggregate GDP of all Asian cities will for the first time exceed the combined GDP of all North American and European cities. “By 2035, we project it will be 17% higher, with Chinese cities alone generating more output than all cities in North America or Europe,” the report said.

New York will still be the largest urban economy in the world in 2035, with the largest finance and business services sector. It will be followed by Tokyo and Los Angeles, with Shanghai tied with London for the fourth place, the report said.

The research house said the modelling and results in the report were based on information provided by third parties, “upon which Oxford Economics has relied in producing its report and forecasts in good faith”.