The British firm Oxford Economics has just updated its Global Cities Index for 2025, which measures the attractiveness of 1,000 cities worldwide.
The index assesses urban performance through 27 indicators, divided into five main categories: economy, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance.
The ranking highlights cities that combine economic development, a high quality of life, the sustainable management of resources, and good governance.
In the case of Tunis, however, the figures reveal a less than stellar performance. On a global scale, the Tunisian capital ranks 529th out of 1,000 cities. In Africa, it climbed to 14th position, but remains well behind several other capital cities on the continent.
Tunis’s scores differ in the five categories assessed by Oxford Economics. It is ranked 279th for human capital, a strength driven by the level of education and the youth of its population.
However, its results in the other categories — economy (647th), quality of life (668th), environment (687th) and governance (618th) — are more modest.
It should also be noted that two other Tunisian cities feature in this ranking: Sfax in 591st place and Sousse in 672nd place.
At a regional level, Cairo is the best-ranked city in Africa, coming 302nd in the world. The Egyptian capital owes this favorable position to its strong performance in terms of human capital (56th in the world) and economics (171st).
Close behind is Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, in 338th place, followed by Nairobi in 381st place and Accra in 387th place. Algiers, the capital of Algeria, completes the top five African cities in 389th place.
Morocco has two cities in the African top 10: Casablanca (431st worldwide) and Rabat (447th).
Three countries dominate the African ranking, with several cities in the top 50. Morocco leads the way with seven cities, including Casablanca, Tangier, Rabat, Fez, Meknes, Marrakesh and Agadir.
Egypt follows with cities such as Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, Mansoura and Tanta. South Africa completes the trio with Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban and Bloemfontein.
The index gives varying weight to the different categories that make up the ranking: the economy accounts for 30% of the score; human capital, quality of life and governance each account for 25%; and the environment accounts for 10%.
The specific indicators used to assess these criteria are as follows: for the economy, the index takes into account gross domestic product (GDP), economic diversification and employment growth; for human capital, it assesses demographic growth, the number of universities and the level of education; and for quality of life, it considers per capita income, the crime rate and the number of recreational and cultural sites.
The environment category measures air quality, temperature anomalies and greenhouse gas emissions, while the governance category examines political stability, civil liberties and the business environment.
