Consumer Cities 2022: Where to Look for Opportunities?

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key Findings

The global urban consumer landscape is increasingly complex and difficult to navigate

Urban consumer potential is fragmented across the globe and depends on many different indicators. Euromonitor International has developed the City Scorecard benchmarking tool, which ranks 1,219 cities globally and allows consumer companies to quickly assess the current state and the future potential of urban consumer markets.

The top 100 most attractive consumer cities account for a significant share of potential global consumer expenditure

The most attractive 100 cities are mainly located in the US, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. These 100 cities will add USD18.5 trillion in real consumer expenditure in 2040 and will contribute 20% of the global growth in the number of wealthy households over 2021-2040. Targeting the most attractive cities will enable consumer businesses to be in the fastest growing and most promising urban markets, with the highest potential returns.

The US remains the leader in terms of top high-scoring cities, having 15 out of the top 20 global consumer cities in 2022

Dallas, Austin and Washington are the top three most attractive consumer cities globally. In a global comparison, US cities excel in disposable income levels and number of wealthy consumers, as well as consumer expenditure levels and high GDP. However, they rank lower in population size and growth, as well as lag behind, for example Western European cities, in the digital consumer pillar.

Asia Pacific offers expanding cities, with rapidly growing affluent consumer segment

Cities in China and Australia are the most promising consumer markets in Asia Pacific. They offer large and growing consumer pools, rising income levels, supported by economic strength and innovation capability as well as a high employed population rate. 

Many Middle East and North Africa cities offer large digital consumer pools

Many MENA cities have large and growing, highly digitalised populations, and a significant and growing wealthy consumer pool. Saudi Arabian and Turkish cities are leading, with six Saudi and four Turkish cities featuring in the list.

Six Western European cities among the leading global 100 cities list 

In 2022, Dublin, Stockholm and Zurich joined London, Madrid and Barcelona, among the 100 leading global cities, thanks to their wealthy and luxury consumer potential, strong economies and high digitalisation.

Latin America's cities rank high in labour potential, but low in spending

The regional cities are characterised by high shares of low-income consumers, lower levels of digital connectivity and elevated inequality indicators. Nevertheless, the share of wealthy consumers is still high in some cities such as Santiago, Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Eastern European cities have smaller populations and limited spending potential

Eastern European cities are attracting businesses with their skilled workforces and lower labour costs, but the region’s cities offer only low potential in terms of population size, with the exception of Moscow. The most attractive cities, such as Warsaw and Bucharest, are seeing rapid growth in middle-income consumers and rising business dynamism in a regional context. 

Sub-Saharan Africa cities lead in population growth, yet large low-income consumer segments limit spending

The region has a large number of cities with large low-income urban markets, resulting in lower discretionary spending capabilities. Nairobi and Pretoria offer high-volume growth opportunities. Meanwhile, Johannesburg remains an exception in the region, with a higher number of wealthy households.