COLUMBUS, Ohio – Economically, Columbus did not perform as well as most of the world’s largest cities last year, but is among the top half for its recovery since the recession, according to a new study.
The city was listed 273rd out of the 300 largest metropolitan areas for economic performance in 2013-14, gaining a fraction of a percentage point in employment, but losing 1.6 percent in per capita gross domestic product, according to the 2014 Global Metro Monitor by the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase.
That puts the city right behind Rome and ahead of Allentown, Pa. Three U.S. cities — Austin and Houston, Texas, and Raleigh, North Carolina, cracked the top 50. London came in No. 26.
Akron was 198th in performance in 2013-14, Cincinnati was 213th, Cleveland 258th and Dayton was No. 287.
However, central Ohio was 126th in performance for the years immediately following the economic downturn, gaining 1.6 percent in both employment and per capita GDP.
For the period 2000-2014, Columbus ranked 226th.
The report says that cities in the developing world, especially China, dominated the top of the rankings. One exception was Bangkok, Thailand. It came in last, largely because its economy has been wrecked by political strife.
Cities in wealthy, developed countries tended to lag behind.
But U.S. and British cities showed improvement from 2013.
Macau, the Chinese territory known for casinos, registered the best economic showing among the world’s cities last year. It has enjoyed a tourism boom, with gamblers coming to bet at more than 30 casinos, including the Venetian Macau, the world’s largest.