Los Angeles fell out of the top 10 cities as measured by their economic strength, while European and Asian cities were found to have the fastest-rising economies, according to the latest edition of an annual survey.

Between last year and this, Los Angeles fell from 10th to 17th on the annual Mastercard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index.

The study blamed Los Angele's fall on "factors around its role in the global financial services network, as well as the rise of European cities in the area of knowledge creation."

The study ranked L.A. fourth among North American metropolises, behind New York, Chicago and Toronto.

A MasterCard economist said eight Asian cities are in the Top 25 list this year.

London was found to be the most-important financial center in the world.

The survey also found that Los Angeles ranks second in the United States behind New York for the strength of its business-support services, such as travel options, hotels and other business-oriented activities.

Los Angeles' airport system ranked ninth, behind five other cities, and its "knowledge creation and information flow" ranked third in the nation and 10th in the world.

The number of high quality universities in the Southland was ranked third in the world, behind New York and Bangalore, India.

The survey ranked U.S. cities as a group 15th for economic security, behind such nations as Austria, Portugal and France.

On the positive side, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were ranked first in the world.