Hyderabad, September 23: Hyderabad has secured the 421st position globally in the 2026 Oxford Economics Global Cities Index, which assesses the performance of 1,000 major cities worldwide across economic, social, environmental and governance indicators.
The city is ranked fifth among Indian cities in the overall index, behind Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Chennai. Delhi is India’s highest-ranked city at 268, followed by Bengaluru at 311, Mumbai at 330 and Chennai at 381.
Oxford Economics evaluates cities across five broad categories: Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment and Governance. The framework is designed to provide a broader assessment of urban performance rather than relying only on economic output.
Hyderabad’s strongest performances in the 2026 assessment came in Economics, where it ranked 248th, and Human Capital, where it ranked 241st. These categories consider factors including economic performance, workforce strength, skills and other characteristics of a city’s labour pool.
The city recorded lower relative positions in Quality of Life at 818th and Environment at 667th. Hyderabad’s Governance rank was 415th, according to the city-level breakdown reported from the index.
The index places Hyderabad alongside several other major Indian urban centres in a ranking that includes 100 Indian cities among the world’s 1,000 largest cities. The inclusion reflects the expanding representation of Indian cities in global urban comparisons.
Oxford Economics describes the Global Cities Index as a data-driven benchmarking tool that combines economic forecasts with standardised qualitative and socioeconomic indicators. The 2026 edition also looks at the future direction of cities and identifies areas of potential growth and structural challenges.
The Hyderabad ranking provides a snapshot of the city’s position across different aspects of urban development, highlighting its relative strengths in economic performance and human capital while also identifying areas measured less strongly in the latest global assessment.