Cork city hailed fifth overall best city in Europe for economic potential

Cork city has been hailed the fifth overall best city in Europe for economic potential, according to the Financial Times FDI European Cities and Regions of Future 2020/2021 league.

The influential publisher ranked Cork’s economic potential higher than a range of top tier European cities including Amsterdam, Oslo and Frankfurt.

A total of 75 European cities were ranked on metrics such as GDP growth, credit rating, economic freedom and labour productivity, areas which Cork scored highly in.

It is projected that Cork city’s population will continue to grow over the next 20 years, reaching over 350,000 by 2040.

Over €1bn of office, hotel and apartment developments are currently underway in the city and the Cork Docklandsis set to provide 179 hectares for business regeneration with employment projections of 30,000 jobs and 30,000 residents.

Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Joe Kavanagh said he is “delighted” to see Cork ranked the fifth overall best city in Europe for economic potential.

“Despite the enormous challenges posed by Covid-19, Cork remains on track to retain its pool of FDI and expand its economic base in 2020.

“This confidence in our collective futures for Cork to thrive is clear in the sustained growth evident with the large numbers of people from overseas choosing Cork City as a place to live and work,” he said.

Cork City Council CE, Ann Doherty, said that Cork City Council has worked hard with IDA Ireland, UCC, MTU and Enterprise Ireland to make Cork a global investment capital “where businesses are enabled to flourish and expand”.

“Because we are an agile, compact city each investor who comes to Cork City can enjoy focused attention from the agencies to support the needs of business,” she said.