World's most liveable countries revealed

Vienna is once again the most liveable city in the world, according to EIU’s Global Liveability Index. The Austrian capital slipped in the rankings in 2021, during the pandemic, but rebounded to the top position in 2022. It retained its crown this year, thanks to its unsurpassed combination of stability, good infrastructure, strong education and healthcare services, and plenty of culture and entertainment.

Report informs via foreign media that similar attractions helped Copenhagen (Denmark) retain its position in second place from last year. Melbourne and Sydney (Australia), which are now in third and fourth place, have moved up to fill spots claimed last year by western European cities. Three cities in Canada, two in Switzerland, and another two in Asia (a New Zealand and a Japanese city are joint tenth) make up the rest of the top ten positions.

Asia-Pacific cities have made some of the biggest gains in 2023, accounting for eight of the top ten movers up the rankings, helped by a shift towards normalcy after the pandemic. Wellington (New Zealand) soared by 35 places to 23rd place, Auckland (New Zealand) by 25, while Hanoi (Vietnam) moved up 20 spots. The New Zealand cities had seen a big tumble in 2022, when covid waves forced intermittent lockdowns.

The Middle East has seen the average level of liveability continue to improve, largely owing to strong gains in healthcare and education ratings. The strongest performers were the cities of Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, both rising by five places. In the UAE, although Abu Dhabi did not go up the ranks, its scores improved to 80, helping it achieve the top-tier status of liveability.

“The removal of covid-related restrictions has overall boded well for global liveability in 2023. Education has emerged stronger with children returning to schools alongside a significantly reduced burden on hospitals and healthcare systems, with some notable improvements in cities across developing economies of Asia and the Middle East. As the world’s political and economic axis continues to shift eastwards, we expect the cities in these regions to move slowly up our liveability rankings.“

European cities dominate the list of the top ten fallers down the rankings, which also includes two US cities–San Diego and Los Angeles. Edinburgh (UK), which entered our liveability survey for the first time in 2022 in a respectable 35th position, has now tumbled to 58th. Stockholm (Sweden) is the second biggest faller, down 22 places, while the US cities of Los Angeles and San Diego both fell by 17 places. All of these cities have not seen a particularly sharp decline in their index scores, but they have failed to make the gains that many other cities have made in the past year. As a result, they have been overtaken in the rankings.

Damascus (Syria) and Tripoli (Libya) are still at the bottom of the list, held back by social unrest, terrorism and conflict. However, while Damascus has seen no improvement since last year, scores for Tripoli and other cities in the bottom ten have improved as the pandemic recedes.