LIVERPOOL has been ranked in the top 25 cities for shopping in a European-wide study.

It was placed behind four other UK cities – London, which was first across Europe, Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester.

The research compared levels of retail sales and the rental price and also took into account cross-border spend, spend-per-head differences by country, the retail offer within each city and the effects of competing out-of-town centres.

Liverpool’s annual retail sales was assessed to be £2.16bn while its annual prime high street retail rent of £156 per sq ft.

In comparison, Manchester sales are £2.27bn with an average rent of £131 per sq ft, while London enjoys sales of £5.74bn and rents of £557 per sq ft. The most expensive retail space is in Paris, priced at nearly £650 per sq ft. The report concluded that regional UK cities have prime high street rental levels that are comparable to those in the wider European pack, although UK rents are currently lower than they normally are relative to other European cities, due to recent exchange rate fluctuations.

The study was carried out by business information group Experian and property services firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

James Dolphin, head of pan-European retail agency at Jones Lang LaSalle, believes the rankings – produced for the first time – provide a good measure of the city’s success.

He said: “The European rankings provide a major step forward in establishing and comparing the size of the retail spend in major European cities.

“This is a crucial first base in assessing the opportunity for retailers, developers, and investors. But it’s not just about size: understanding rental levels is equally important.

“We can better understand the quality of the retail environment, occupier demand, availability of space and ultimately provide a guide to helping determine potential turnover.”

Liverpool’s retail offer was revolutionised last year by the opening of Liverpool One. It introduced 1.4m sq ft of retail space onto the market, which is now 98% let, while gloomy predictions of lots of empty units on Church Street are yet to materialise.

The city’s wider retail district has also seen improvements over the past couple of years.

The up-market Metquarter shopping mall opened its doors in 2006, and value clothes retailer Primark opened one of its biggest UK stores in 2007.