The city has a thriving economy and is the financial capital of Germany. It is home to the European Central Bank, the German stock exchange, the Bundesbank and hundreds of other banking institutions including most of Germany's leading banks and a large proportion of foreign institutions. Of the world's largest 20 banks 16 have their German headquarters or offices in the city.

In addition, Frankfurt has important media, biotechnology and information technology industries. The FrankfurtRheinMain region is home to 10 universities, 12 technical colleges, and more than 35 research institutes conducting biotech research and numerous international companies such as Abbott, Aventis Pharma, Boehringer Ingelheim, Fresenius, and Merck are established there. All the prominent telecoms companies have branches in the city and, according to the local economic development agency, some 35 per cent of European internet traffic and 85 per cent of national internet traffic is processed via the city's network. Manufacturing plays an important role in the city's economy, with the high technology sector growing increasingly significant. Frankfurt is also a major venue for international trade fairs and other business events.

The city is an important transport hub, with excellent air, rail, road and water routes connecting it to the rest of Europe and the world. Frankfurt-am-Main airport, located 12 kilometres southwest of the city centre, is continental Europe's busiest airport handling nearly 50 million passengers and 1.5 million tons of freight a year. It offers direct flights to numerous destinations in Europe, North America, China, India, Korea and Japan and every European capital can be reached from the airport within three hours. The airport is served by two passenger railway stations. The Regional Train Station, located under Terminal 1, is open 24 hours a day and is linked to Frakfurt's main station by trains departing every 15 minutes. There are also regular services to several other towns in the region including Offenbach, Hanau, Ruesselsheim, Mainz and Wiesbadn. The Fernbahnof long-distance train station, located at the AIRail Terminal, provides high-speed train services to a variety of national and international destinations.

The city's main train station is the busiest in Germany and offers fast, direct connections to all major German and European cities. Frankfurt is also at the centre of the country's Autobahnen system, giving excellent access to the rest of Germany and the European highway system. In addition, long-distance buses connect Frankfurt with most Eastern and Western European countries, as well as North Africa. The nearby Rhine and Main rivers are among the most important inland waterways in the world for passenger and freight traffic. In 1992, the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal was opened southwest of Frankfurt, allowing water transport to travel between the North Sea and the Black Sea via Frankfurt.

Within Frankfurt itself there is an excellent transport system comprised of bus, tram, and the underground S-Bahn and U-Bahn lines.