Tokyo has the largest metropolitan economy in the world. According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Tokyo urban area (35.2 million people) had a total GDP of US$1,191 billion in 2005 (at purchasing power parity), ranking again as the largest urban agglomeration GDP in the world.

Tokyo is a major international finance center, houses the headquarters of several of the world's largest investment banks and insurance companies, and serves as a hub for Japan's transportation, publishing, and broadcasting industries. During the centralized growth of Japan's economy following World War II, many large firms moved their headquarters from cities such as Osaka (the historical commercial capital) to Tokyo, in an attempt to take advantage of better access to the government. This trend has begun to slow due to ongoing population growth in Tokyo and the high cost of living there.

Tokyo was rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the most expensive (highest cost-of-living) city in the world for 14 years in a row ending in 2006.[8] Note that this is for living a Western corporate executive lifestyle, with items typically considered luxuries in large cities, like a detached house and several automobiles. Many Japanese get by fine on a budget in Tokyo, underpinning the high national savings rate.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest in the world by market capitalization of listed shares, at $4.99 trillion.[1] Only the New York Stock Exchange is larger. However, its prominence has fallen significantly since early 1990s asset bubble peak, when it accounted for more than 60% of the entire world's stock market values.

Tokyo had 8,460 ha (20,900 acres) of agricultural land as of 2003,[9] according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, placing it last among the nation's prefectures. The farmland is concentrated in Western Tokyo. Perishables such as vegetables, fruits, and flowers can be conveniently shipped to the markets in the eastern part of the prefecture. Japanese leaf spinach and spinach are the most important vegetables; as of 2000, Tokyo supplied 32.5% of the Japanese leaf spinach sold at its central produce market.

With 36% of its area covered by forest, Tokyo has extensive growths of cryptomeria and Japanese cypress, especially in the mountainous western communities of Akiruno, Ōme, Okutama, Hachiōji, Hinode, and Hinohara. Decreases in the price of lumber, increases in the cost of production, and advancing old age among the forestry population have resulted in a decline in Tokyo's output. In addition, pollen, especially from cryptomeria, is a major allergen for the nearby population centers.

Tokyo Bay was once a major source of fish. Presently, most of Tokyo's fish production comes from the outer islands, such as Izu Ōshima and Hachijōjima. Skipjack tuna, nori, and aji are among the ocean products.

With a 2005 GDP of €478.7 billion (US$595.3 billion), the Paris Region has one of the highest GDPs in Europe, making it an engine of the global economy: were it a country, it would rank as the fourteenth largest economy in the world. The Paris Region is France's premier centre of economic activity: while its population accounted for 18.7% of the total population of metropolitan France in 2005, its GDP was about 28.5% that of metropolitan France. Activity in the Paris urban area is diverse, unlike most of the world's metropoles that tend to have a leading specialised industry (such as Los Angeles with entertainment industries or London and New York with financial industries in addition to other activities). Recently the Paris economy has been shifting towards high value-added service industries (finance, IT services, etc.) and high-tech manufacturing (electronics, optics, aerospace, etc).

The Paris Region's most intense economic activity through the central Hauts-de-Seine département and suburban La Défense business district places Paris' economic centre to the west of the city, in a triangle between the Opéra Garnier, La Défense and the Val de Seine. Paris' administrative borders have little consequences on the limits of its economic activity: although most workers commute from the suburbs to work in the city, many commute from the city to work in the suburbs. At the 1999 census, 47.5% of the 5,089,170 people in employment in the Paris urban area worked in the city of Paris and the Hauts-de-Seine département, while only 31.5% worked exclusively in Paris.

Although the Paris economy is largely dominated by services, it remains an important manufacturing powerhouse of Europe, especially in industrial sectors such as automobiles, aeronautics, and electronics. Over recent decades, the local economy has moved towards high value-added activities, in particular business services.

The 1999 census indicated that of the 5,089,170 persons employed in the Paris urban area, 16.5% worked in business services, 13.0% in commerce (retail and wholesale trade), 12.3% in manufacturing, 10.0% in public administrations and defense, 8.7% in health services, 8.2% in transportation and communications, 6.6% in education, and the remaining 24.7% in many other economic sectors. Among the manufacturing sector, the largest employers were the electronic and electrical industry (17.9% of the total manufacturing workforce in 1999) and the publishing and printing industry (14.0% of the total manufacturing workforce), with the remaining 68.1% of the manufacturing workforce distributed among many other industries. Tourism and tourist related services employ 6.2% of Paris' workforce, and 3.6% of all workers within the Paris Region.[20]
 

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Frankfurt am Main is a financial and service centre of global importance and, as the focal point of the dynamic Rhine-Main economic region, is one of the leading locations for companies in Europe. Its central location, its well-developed infrastructure with the largest airport on the continent, the concentration of internationally active companies (many of them have headquarters in the city) of various sectors provide Frankfurt with one of the top positions in Europe.

As one of the leading financial centres, more than 300 national and international banks are represented in the Main metropolis. Amongst others, the European Central Bank and the German Bundesbank have their headquarters in Frankfurt. This is also where the Deutsche Börse Group is located.

According to a ranking list produced by the University of Liverpool, Frankfurt is the richest city in Europe by GDP per capita. After Frankfurt are Karlsruhe, Paris and then Munich.

With over 922 jobs per 1000 inhabitants, Frankfurt has the highest concentration of jobs in Germany. The high number of around 600,000 positions with only 650,000 inhabitants of the city itself is explained by the high number of commuters who work in the city, which raises the per capital GDP of the resident population significantly. Furthermore, it is only on work days and certain Saturdays when shops are open that Frankfurt can claim to have a million inhabitants. On other days, the statistics regarding Frankfurt's wealth are reduced, in favor of the communities and towns of the so-called Speckgürtel (literally bacon belt), such as Bad Homburg v.d. Höhe, Königstein im Taunus, Kronberg im Taunus and Bad Soden am Taunus, many of whose inhabitants work in Frankfurt. Frankfurt has the highest concentration of lawyers in Germany, with one lawyer per 99 inhabitants, and also the highest per-capita level of debt in Germany (excepting Germany's three city-states), because of a set of massive public works projects in the 1980s under CDU mayors Walter Wallmann and Wolfram Brück.

Frankfurt also occupies the fifth position on another list ranking major cities according to quality of life. Despite that, Frankfurt also had, as of 2003, the highest levels of crime per 100,000 inhabitants in Germany. However, this statistic is a result of the commuter population, for it is calculated based on the 650,000-inhabitant figure, and also includes crimes committed at the airport, such as smuggling. Frankfurt is therefore a very safe city, corrorborated by surveys among the inhabitants.

The Frankfurt Airport is the single largest place of work in Germany.

Electronic communication
Frankfurt is also an important location for the internet. Frankfurt is home to Germany's largest internet exchange point, DE-CIX, and is where domain names are registered for the top-level-domain .de.

Trade
Fairs have a long tradition in Frankfurt, which, with the Frankfurt Trade Fair is recognized as the premier city for medieval fairs and modern-day trade shows. Even in the Middle Ages, traders could sell their goods in Frankfurt. Frankfurt was connected with Leipzig, the other of the two most important locations for fairs in the Holy Roman Empire, by means of the Via Regia.

Alongside the Frankfurt Book Fair, Frankfurt hosts the International Automobile Exhibition, the Achema, and the Ambiente Frankfurt, the largest consumer goods trade show in the world.

Finance
Frankfurt's Bankenviertel (financial district)Frankfurt is known as a centre of high finance. The headquarters of Germany's three largest banks are all located in central Frankfurt. The Deutsche Bank is located on the Mainzer Landstraße in the vicinity of the Taunus foothills. A few avenues further into the city, one can recognize the Commerzbank's skyscrapers, the highest of which is almost 300 metres (980 ft) tall.

Despite what its name would suggest, the Dresdner Bank is also headquartered in Frankfurt. Dresdner Bank now belongs to Allianz Bank in Munich. Frankfurt is also the location of the largest Dutch "direct bank", ING. Several important non-public banks are also located in Frankfurt, such as Bankhaus Metzler, Hauck and Aufhäuser, Delbrück Bethmann Maffei (which belongs to the Dutch ABN Amro) and BHF-Bank.

Among the largest non-public banks are the DZ Bank, the DekaBank, the Frankfurter Sparkasse (savings bank), and the Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (HELABA). Most of the remaining 300 banks are small domestic businesses.

With the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and XETRA, which belong to the Deutsche Börse, Frankfurt has the second largest stock exchange in Europe, and accounts for the largest proportion of trades in Germany. In terms of market capitalization, the Deutsche Börse is the largest stock exchange in the world.

Other businesses
Frankfurt is home to chemical industries, advertising, software business and call centers. Business development and other important departments of the Deutsche Bahn are located at the DB-Headquarters in Gallus. Because of Hoechst AG, Frankfurt is considered the "Apothecary of the World". Höchst's industrial park in Frankfurt is one of the three largest locations for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in Europe. Frankfurt is also home to several large German industrial associations, such as the Chemical Industry Association; the Association for German Machine- and Equipment-building; the Electrotechnical, Electronic, and Information Technology Association e.V. with its affiliated electrotechnical standards commission; and the Association of German Automobile Producers, which is currently moving to Franfurt. The Union of German Automobile Producers meets in Frankfurt every two years to coincide with the International Automobile Exhibition, mentioned above. Furthermore, the Trade Association of German Booksellers has its headquarters in Frankfurt, and organizes the Frankfurt Book Fair. In terms of labor unions, Frankfurt is home to the headquarters of IG Metall and IG Bau, two of Germany's largest labor unions.

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