Bishkek ranked 461st among 1,000 cities worldwide in the Global Cities Index 2026 compiled by Oxford Economics.

Compared with last year’s ranking, the Kyrgyzstan’s capital climbed 37 places. Bishkek ranked 498th in the Global Cities Index 2025.

Oxford Economics assesses cities across five key areas: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. The index takes into account cities’ structural strengths, existing challenges and development prospects.

Bishkek achieved its highest ranking in the human capital category, placing 194th.

In terms of economic indicators, the capital of Kyrgyzstan ranked 383rd; it placed 667th for quality of life and 671st for the environment. Its lowest ranking is in governance, where it placed 844th.

Among Central Asian capitals, Bishkek ranked below Astana and Tashkent but above Dushanbe. Astana placed 281st, Tashkent 343rd and Dushanbe 672nd.

New York topped the Global Cities Index 2026, followed by London, Paris, Seattle and San Francisco.

Oxford Economics notes that European and North American cities continue to dominate the top of the rankings, accounting for 78 of the top 100 positions. New York and London retain their leading positions due to the scale of their economies and strong labour markets, while Paris performs particularly well in quality of life.

The authors of the ranking also highlight the growing role of Asian cities. According to the analysts, cities in East and South Asia are expected to become some of the main drivers of global economic growth in the coming decades. Five of the 10 cities projected to record the largest GDP increases worldwide by 2050 are expected to be in Asia.

Growth in Chinese and Indian cities is expected to be particularly significant. Shanghai, Beijing and Delhi are currently outside the top 100, but Oxford Economics projects some of the largest increases in GDP for these cities.