Swiss business locations once again rank among Europe’s best
London - Zug has again been named the most attractive micro city in Europe. Zurich claimed second place among mid-sized cities. The fDi rankings for 2025 also include the cities of Geneva, Lugano and Basel in the top ten, in addition to the cantons of Zurich, Zug and Geneva. Basel was named as the small city with the best investment promotion strategy.
(CONNECT) Switzerland is once again represented by several cities and cantons in various top ten rankings of the European Cities and Regions of the Future 2025. With these rankings, fDi Intelligence – a British investment portal owned by the “Financial Times” – evaluates the most attractive locations across Europe for direct investments. In this context, a total of 330 cities and 141 regions were analyzed on the basis of key factors of relevance to expanding companies: economic potential, human capital and lifestyle, cost effectiveness, connectivity and business friendliness.
In terms of the micro cities, the winners were the same as in the previous year. Zug claimed top spot ahead of the Irish cities of Limerick and Galway. The lowest tax rate in Switzerland is said to have played a significant role in Zug’s success in attracting foreign investment, according to the report. The business services sector attracted the lion’s share of these investments. Lugano ranks in ninth place here.
In the mid-sized cities category, Zurich replicates its standing from last year by claiming second place behind the Polish city of Wroclaw. Vilnius (Lithuania) finished in third place. The report sums up Zurich’s performance as follows: “The city stood out as the top performer in the Economic Potential subcategory, and it made the top ten also for Human Capital and Lifestyle, Connectivity and Business Friendliness”.
Basel ranks in seventh place in the small cities category, but claimed a notable victory for its FDI Strategy at the same time. The local agency Basel Area Business & Innovation impressed judges with its investment promotion strategy, "building on its strengths as the leading hub for life sciences in Switzerland”, as the report states. The Basel Area also made a sustainable impression with its “USP as the only area in Switzerland which offers commercial talent, academic research institutions and lab space within a single ecosystem”.
As far as small regions are concerned, Luxembourg dropped into second place this year, behind Dublin but ahead of Prague. The canton of Zug ranks in sixth place here, with the canton of Geneva in ninth position. For the mid-sized regions in Europe, the canton of Zurich is ranked fourth, behind North Holland, Berlin and Stockholm. The canton of Zurich took top spot in the subcategories of Economic Potential, Business Friendliness and Connectivity. ce/mm
