Indicators
The OFEX database is representative, built from reliable and in-depth data sources, and contains 55 indicators measuring the attractiveness of financial centres according to four categories.
Only indicators whose construction method is transparent, comparable between countries/cities and from reliable sources validated by experts, are used into the index (e.g. OECD, BIS, IMF, World Bank…). Priority has been given to indicators with some historical depth. A few exceptions had to be made for important indicators (notably for the digital and ESG financial sector development) that were deemed too important for attractiveness to be left aside even if not all the criteria were met.
Indicator selection was also a balance between comprehensiveness and interpretability. For example, usually when redundant or very similar indicators were identified, only one was kept. Prioritization was based on data source reliability, historical depth or indicator reliability.
The database contains historical data since 2000 and is updated on a yearly basis.
OFEX relies on indicators categorized in 4 main categories:
- Financial and economic sector development (22 indicators): Financial market size, volumes, major actors & credit market size and economic dynamism
- Human capital (14 indicators): Human capital availability and capacity to attract it
- Infrastructure (4 indicators): Transport and telecom infrastructure development and quality
- Business environment (15 indicators): Ease to create, develop and maintain a profitable business
finance
Financial market size, volumes, major actors & credit market size and economic dynamism.
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OTC FX derivatives turnover - BIS
Global foreign exchange and over-the-counter derivatives markets
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OTC IR derivatives turnover - BIS
Global interest rate and over-the-counter derivatives markets
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Gross insurance premiums - OECD
Total insurance premiums in the reporting country
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Listed bond value - BIS
Total debt securities outsanding
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Market capitalization on stock market - The World Bank
Share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding for listed domestic companies
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Number of listed companies - The World Bank
Listed domestic companies, including foreign companies which are exclusively listed
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Total credit to households - BIS
Total amount of combined funds that are provided to individuals by financial companies
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Total credit to non-financial corporations - BIS
Total amount of combined funds that are provided to non-financial corporations by financial institutions
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Value of bond trading - World Federation of Exchanges
Total value of bonds trading on electronic order book
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Value of share trading - World Federation of Exchanges
Total value of share trading on electronic order book
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Volume of share trading - World Federation of Exchanges
Total number of share trading on electronic order book
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Capital raised through IPO - World Federation of Exchanges
Total capital raised through IPO
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ESG bonds - Climate Bonds Initiative
Amounts of green, social and sustainable bonds issued
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AML effectiveness - Basel Institute on Governance
Measures the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing
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Global fintech ecosystem rankings - Findexable
Scores the quantity of privately owned fintech companies, the quality of those companies, the local business environment
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Bank assets - BIS
Positions reported by banks on local positions in the fourth quarter
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Clearing house transactions - BIS
Value of transactions cleared by clearing houses
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Central securities depositories transactions - BIS
Value of transactions processed by central securities depositories
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Assets under management value - EFAMA
Total net assets excluding fund of funds in the fourth quarter
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Fintech activity index - The World Bank
Scores the investments in fintech, usage of fintech credit, usage of digital payments and finance app downloads
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International financial institutions - Institut Louis Bachelier
Number of international cross-boarder financial institutions
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SSE assessment - SSE initiative
Scores the work that stock exchanges are undertaking to advance sustainability in their respective markets
Working Environment
business
Ease to create, develop and maintain a profitable business.
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Current GDP country - The World Bank
Current GDP of the country
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GDP growth over 5 years - The World Bank
Current GDP growth (in %) of the country over the last 5 years
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Current GDP city - OECD
Current GPD of the city
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Global office market occupancy cost - CBRE
Total cost to occupy the highest quality office space in each market’s highest-quality location
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Exports - The World Bank
Exports including all transactions of goods and services from residents of a country to non-residents
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Foreign direct investment inflows - The World Bank
Direct investment equity flows in the reporting economy
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Global innovation index - INSEAD
Rank the most innovative economies in the world based on approximately 80 indicators
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Political stability - The World Bank
Likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism
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World press freedom - RSF
Media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists
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Regulatory quality - The World Bank
Ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development
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Product market regulation - OECD
Represent state control, barriers to entrepreneurship, and barriers to trade and investment
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Strictness of employment protection - OECD
Evaluate the regulations on the dismissal of workers on regular contracts and the hiring of workers on temporary contracts
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Corporate income tax rates - OECD
Basic central government statutory corporate income tax rate
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Global competitiveness index - World Economic Forum
Ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens
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Rule of law - The World Bank
Quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence
human
Human capital availability and capacity to attract it.
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Personal tax rates (single no child) - OECD
Average personal income tax rates for single persons without children
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Personal tax rates (married 2 children) - OECD
Average personal income tax rates for one-earner married couples with children
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Cost of living city rankings - Mercer
Reflects the prices of over 200 items including food, alcohol, domestic supplies, housing, clothing, etc.
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Number of universities in the top 100 world university in economics - Times Higher Education
Assesses economics universities on teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook
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Number of universities in the top 100 world university in maths stats - Times Higher Education
Assesses maths/stats universities on teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook
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Number of universities in the top 500 Shanghai classification - Shanghai ranking
Assesses universities based on the number of Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers and number of high quality publications
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Population with tertiary degree for 25 to 34 y.o. - OECD
Population having completed the highest level of education between 25 and 34 years old
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Global expenditure on R&D as a % of GDP - OECD
Gross domestic expenditure on research and development as a percentage of GDP
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Health index - OECD
Health quality based on life expectancy and self-reported health
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Life satisfaction index - OECD
Life satisfaction based on people's rates of their current life
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Safe cities index - EIU
City security assessment including digital security, health security, infrastructure security and personal security
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Gross value added per hour worked - OECD
Measure of labour productivity
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Visa restrictions index - Henley Partners
Total number of countries that can be accessed visa-free using a country's passport
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Person in finance - International Labour Organization
Total people employment in financial and insurances activities
infrastructure
Transport and telecom infrastructure development and quality.
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Airport passenger traffic - Port Authority NY/NJ
Total passengers, defined as passengers enplaned, passengers deplaned and direct-transit passengers
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Internet availibility - Opensignal
Average proportion of time users spend with a 4G or better connection on each operator's network
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ICT development index - International Telecommunication Union
Assesses the developments in information and communication technology
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Ground and port Infrastructure - World Economic Forum
The availability of efficient and accessible transportation to key business centres and tourist attractions