Basel has been ranked first in the category of small cities with 100,000 to 350,000 inhabitants in the European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023 review, as it was last year as well. Cork in Ireland came in second place, followed by Reading, England. fDi, which is part of the Financial Times, uses this ranking to assess the most attractive locations for foreign direct investments. Information was collected and assessed for a total of 549 locations in five different categories: economic potential, human capital and lifestyle, cost effectiveness, connectivity, and business friendliness.

According to the report, as before, biotechnology is a driving force behind foreign direct investments in Basel. The city is a key player in Europe’s BioValley, the life sciences cluster stretching from Basel to neighbouring Germany and France.

Basel ranked second in the subcategory of economic potential, the same as the previous year, and ranked fifth for human capital and lifestyle (previous year: rank 4). This year, Basel entered the top ten for the category of connectivity for the first time, coming in ninth place.

Basel Area second best small region in Europe

Besides these five categories, which are assigned purely by data, there is a sixth category involving surveys: FDI (foreign direct investment) strategy. For this purely qualitative category, 89 locations provided details on their strategy to promote foreign direct investments, which were then assessed by fDi’s jury. As with last year, Basel Area came in second place in the category “Small European Regions of the Future 2023”, behind Ireland South-East.

The CEO of the location and innovation promotion agency Basel Area Business & Innovation, Christof Klöpper, commented: “We foster the strengths of the Basel Area and are increasingly successful with our approach, as our fabulous results in the fDi ranking confirm.” He added that companies find the Basel Area to be a dynamic ecosystem and are always amazed by the collaborative mindset that is cultivated. He went on to say: “The Basel Area has attracted new players and exceptional talent – it’s a healthy circle we plan to spin even further.”