The 10 most liveable cities on the earth; Vienna and Copenhagen top the list: EIU

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vienna, the capital of Austria, is probably the most livable city on the earth for the third yr in a row.

The annual report is designed to indicate how comfortable or livable a city is and examined 173 cities world wide using 30 indicators divided into five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Thanks to its top scores in stability, healthcare, education and infrastructure, Vienna tops the list this yr, closely followed by its Western European counterparts: Copenhagen (Denmark) in second place and Zurich (Switzerland) in third.

Although Vienna ranked highest on the list, town suffered slight losses within the culture and environment categories “due to the lack of major sporting events,” in line with the EIU. Global Quality of Life Index for 2024.

“The EIU's Quality of Life Index increased slightly over the past year,” the report said. “A decline in stability and infrastructure in a number of cities in developed countries was offset by structural improvements in health and education in several cities in developing countries.”

According to the EIU, these are the ten most livable cities on the earth.

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Melbourne, Australia
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Vancouver, Canada
9. Tokyo, Japan
10. Auckland, New Zealand

Four cities from the Asia-Pacific region made it into this yr's top 10: the Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney, in addition to Osaka, Japan and Auckland, New Zealand.

Melbourne, Sydney and Vancouver made it into the highest 10 this yr, but slipped “due to a significant shortage of housing,” in line with the EIU. For the identical reason, Toronto fell to twelfth place this yr after rating in the highest 10 the previous two years.

Western Europe performed best on the earth by way of quality of life, scoring 92 out of 100 overall. However, quality of life has declined since last yr on account of a rise in protests and crime, weighing on the steadiness category, the report said.

North America was the second-best region with a median rating of 90.5 out of 100 and achieved the very best rating in education. However, the continued housing crisis in Canada has dragged down the region's infrastructure scores, said EIU.

The quality of life in Asian cities continues to rise worldwide. Hong Kong specifically recorded the largest jump on this yr's study, climbing from 61st to fiftieth place.

“Although Hong Kong’s political landscape is not quite back to pre-2019 levels, [stabilized]and the risk of disruption from mass protests is now negligible,” the EIU said.

“The national security law and local regulations introduced in early 2024 have restored political stability, but this change in score represents a huge compromise for Hong Kong's civil society, as shown by the city's declining score in our separately published Democracy Index,” the EIU said.

The 10 most livable cities in Asia:

• Melbourne, Australia (4th worldwide)
• Sydney, Australia (7.)
• Osaka, Japan (9th place)
• Auckland, New Zealand (9th place)
• Adelaide, Australia (11.)
• Tokyo, Japan (14.)
• Perth, Australia (15.)
• Brisbane, Australia (16.)
• Wellington, New Zealand (20.)
• Singapore, Singapore (26.)

Singapore, ranked 26th in the world, also made a big jump, becoming the second biggest climber over the past 12 months. Most notably, the small Southeast Asian country scored a full 100 in the healthcare category.

The Japanese cities of Osaka and Tokyo also made it into Asia's top 10. “As the most populous city in the top 20, Tokyo deserves additional recognition for its ability to maintain high standards of public service delivery and safety despite its enormous population,” said the EIU.

However, the quality of life in Indian cities has declined, partly due to the country's poor air quality. “Infrastructure development is also a priority for the government, but given the size and geography of the country, it will take some time for things to improve,” the EIU said.

“Of the 58 Asian cities in the index, 16 achieved the highest quality of life (score above 80),” said Barsali Bhattacharyya, deputy industry director at EIU.

“However, 11 Asian cities scored below 60. From this point on, we define the standard of life as seriously compromised, as these cities struggle with structural, political and climatic problems which might be difficult to beat,” she said.

Stability saw the sharpest decline of all five categories this year, with the decline being tempered by geopolitical conflict, social unrest, and the ongoing housing crisis and crime in many of the cities surveyed, the report said.

The bottom 10 spots are dominated by cities in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa. According to the report, Damascus in Syria and Tripoli in Libya are the two cities with the lowest quality of life after unrest devastated their economies.

The Ukrainian city of Kyiv ranks 9th among the world's most livable cities as the country continues to struggle with an active armed conflict following Russia's invasion in February 2022.

Tel Aviv, the capital of Israel, suffered the biggest drop this year, falling 20 places to 112th in the global rankings. This is due to the ongoing war with Hamas, which has been going on since October 7. On the Israeli side, more than 1,200 people have been killed, while over 37,000 Palestinians have been killed. According to the United Nations.