London has lost its crown as Europe’s most talked about city online and on social media with Paris taking top spot for the time.
The growing excitement around the build up to the summer Olympic Games in the French capital helped knock London off its perch at the top of the rankings of 60 cities, which have been compiled since 2018.
The sixth edition of the Europe’s Most Talked About Cities report, compiled by digital communications agency ING Media, found that mentions of Paris grew 21 per cent last year compared with just 4 per centfor London.
As well as the Olympics, which start with a spectacular opening ceremony on 26 July, Paris’s profile has been raised by the Rugby World Cup last October and Fashion Week in September.
But the Olympics effect still only accounts for two per cent of total mentions of Paris suggesting that could open the gap wider this year as the world’s biggest sporting festival gets closer.
However, London remains top for culture with 22.9 million mentions compared with 21.9 million for Paris. The two capitals are far ahead of third placed Milan on just 7.5 million.
For the first time, ING has measured how many conversations about cities are focused on their investment credentials. It found that Paris leads with six million mentions ahead of London on 5.2 million.
Damian Wild, managing director at ING Media, said: “London has lost its crown. For the first time our annual index shows that Paris is now the most visible brand in Europe. Despite London remaining the king of culture, Paris is catching up fast, and, with a summer Olympics to look forward to, may find itself pulling further ahead in the overall rankings in 2024.
“For London, 2023 was still a bumper year for our brand, with the King’s Coronation keeping the city on the global map. Paris and London remain far ahead of any other European city, with each generating almost twice as many online mentions as third placed Madrid.
