Auckland
Overall Score: 46.92 out of 100 | Overall Rank: 18 out of 55

Momentum Rank

Auckland55 City medianOverall Cityscore
60
Technology

New city

40
20

Markets

0Culture

TalentCapital

Basic Facts:• Population: 1.72 million (2021)• Gross Metro Production (GMP): $81.71 billion(2021)• Top Sectors by Employment (2021):
1) Construction and engineering2) Manufacturing
3) Technology
Notable Strengths:
Auckland was one of five new cities added to the index
this year including Hamburg, Montpellier, Mumbai, andWellington. As a new addition to the index, Auckland isproviding some stiff competition to the other cities.
Auckland ranks in the top half overall in its ability toattract and support high potential women entrepreneurs.
Auckland’s strength lies in its top 10 position in thetechnology pillar and a top 15 position in the talent pillar.
In particular, the skill and experience of women in
Auckland ranks 3rd overall.
Auckland’s strong overall position in the WE Cities index
is driven by an 8th overall ranking in the technology pillar.
Auckland is known as New Zealand’s tech powerhouseand is home to 60% of the nation’s top 200 techcompanies. Global health-tech companies like Fisher &Paykel Healthcare and Orion Health are headquarteredin Auckland. Other sub-industries like fintech andcreative technology are areas of strength for the city.
When looking at the technology pillar at the indicator
level, Auckland score high in median upload anddownload speed. According to Speed Test Performance,
Auckland’s median mobile upload speed is 13.70 Mbps
and median mobile download speed is 67.69 Mbps. Thisranks Auckland in the top 15 for both indicators.
Wellington, the only other New Zealand city on the index,Overall Rank

18

Operating Environment

22

Markets

25

Size

47

Cost

4

Access37

Policy24

Talent15

Women's Skill & Experience3

Access to Qualified Personnel

35

Capital34

Number/Value

39

Gender Proportion

37

Women's Capital Base

24

Enabling Environment

11

Culture24

Access to Mentors & Role Models

18

Attitudes & Expectations

39

Policy17Technology

8Connected

9

Cost

12

Policy38

Equality4

ranked first for both upload and download speed which shows the nation’s strength when it comes to technology
and staying connected.
Auckland is home to highly ranked global universities that create a strong talent pool for entrepreneurs to pull from.
University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology are ranked 123rd and 372nd respectively out of 2000
according to US News & World Report 2022 Best Global Universities Rankings. Additionally, both universities haveaccredited business schools, with AACSB, AMBA, and/or EQUIS accreditation, according to Find-MBA. The accessto strong talent does not stop at the university level. Having the necessary talent available already established intheir professions is key for women entrepreneurs to scale their business. Auckland ranked in the top five for thepercentage of the labor force in finance, marking, accounting, and law professions within the city. Furthermore,
Auckland ranked in the top 10 for the percentage of the labor force in IT professions.
Areas for Improvement:
While Auckland excels in talent and technology, the city finds itself in the middle of the pack in the markets pillar.
Auckland has a relatively small city population and Gross Metro Product (GMP) compared to the rest of the cities in
the index. Auckland is outmatched in this area by much larger cities and this contributes to a bottom 10 ranking in
the markets sub-pillar 1 (size). The relative size of Auckland also contributes to a smaller number of female
entrepreneurs and accelerators within the city. Auckland ranked in the bottom 10 in the number of female
entrepreneurs as a percentage of startups.
Auckland can also improve in the capital pillar, specifically in the number/value and gender proportion sub-pillars.
The city is ranked 34th for the value of venture capital funds given to business with at least 25% female executives
and 42nd for the number of female founders or executives in the second round or higher of funding. Within thegender proportion sub-pillar, Auckland ranks 43rd for the percentage of investment companies with at least one
female executive. With more female representation at the executive level at venture capital funds and investmentcompanies, Auckland can foster a better capital environment for women entrepreneurs. While Auckland is new to
the Index this year and therefore doesn’t have a momentum score, its addition to the Index has provided strong
competition to the other cities with its top 20 ranking.