The city of Ghent has risen from 19th to 10th place worldwide in a new international ranking of technology cities.
A new study, carried out by Dealroom, a database management company based in Amsterdam, analysed 325 cities in 77 countries.
The ranking highlights what are known as "Density Leaders," comparing innovation capacity to population size. Silicon Valley, in California (USA), tops the list globally.
At 10th, Ghent ranks above New York in 11th, Munich in 19th and Amsterdam in 20th.
In Europe, the Belgian city has taken fourth place, behind Cambridge, London, and Stockholm, according to the study.
"This is an incredible achievement and something to be incredibly proud of," city councillor Sofie Bracke (Voor Gent) told VRT.
While global technological capital is increasingly concentrated in a limited number of cities, smaller innovation hubs are simultaneously experiencing strong growth — Ghent is among those, according to Dealroom.
The study ranks cities according to investment levels, economic impact, company valuations, and collaboration with universities, and Ghent has excelled across all these metrics.
The tech sector in Ghent now boasts a commercial value exceeding €61 billion, accounting for 68% of Flanders' total tech value.
