Tokyo has topped a ranking by GlobalData that listed the top 25 global cities worldwide. The leading data and analytics company compiled the ranking by assessing the 2020 GDP and aggregate revenues of more than 43,000 companies headquartered in around 5,400 cities. With an aggregate revenue of $4,877bn, Tokyo has been crowned king, beating the likes of Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, London, Paris and all major US metropolitans.

Parth Vala, Company Profiles Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “GlobalData found that 23% of the 9,600 public companies headquartered in the top 25 cities by nominal GDP appearing in the study are based in Japan, ahead of China (22%), Hong Kong (16%), the US (14%) and South Korea (9%), the UK (7%), Singapore (6%), France (2%), Russia (1%), and Mexico (1%). Unsurprisingly, the majority of cities featuring in the ranking were from advanced economies, at 18. Most cities listed are located in the US, followed by China.”

Although Tokyo was the largest city, in terms of aggregated revenue and the number of companies in the top 25 list, it was behind other cities in terms of average revenue per company in 2020. Seattle reported an average revenue of $13.6bn per company, followed by Paris ($7bn), Washington ($6.4bn), Atlanta ($6.4bn), and Beijing ($6.1bn). However, the average revenue per company headquartered in Tokyo’s metropolitan area reported just $2.2bn.

Comparing this study with a similar study last year, GloalData found that the combined revenue of the 9,600 public enterprises declined 4.6% in 2020 as economic activities across the globe were hampered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vala notes: “Interestingly, the only public companies that did not report year-on-year (y-o-y) decline in their aggregate revenues in 2020 were those based in China. In fact, companies headquartered in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Chongqing registered y-o-y revenue growth, which could be attributed to the Chinese Government’s swift efforts in controlling the spread of COVID-19 and the actions taken in getting the economy back on track.”