Vienna continues to hold the title of the world's most liveable city for the third consecutive year, according to a recent survey released on Thursday. The Austrian capital topped the Economist's annual list, with Copenhagen in Denmark and Zurich in Switzerland following closely behind. Melbourne, Australia, and Calgary, Canada, rounded out the top five in the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Global Liveability Index.
The EIU noted that while Western Europe remains the most liveable region, it has experienced a decrease in stability scores due to a rise in protests concerning various issues, including far-right extremism, EU agricultural policy, and anti-immigration sentiments. Vienna scored perfectly in stability, healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
The overall global liveability has seen a slight improvement over the past year, although this improvement is minimal due to ongoing geopolitical conflicts, civil unrest, and a housing crisis in many cities amidst inflation. The EIU predicts that the stress on liveability is unlikely to ease soon.
Tel Aviv experienced the most significant drop in ranking, falling 20 places to 112th. This decline follows an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel in October, prompting a retaliatory offensive by Israel into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Damascus, Syria, retained its position as the least liveable city, while Kyiv remained in the bottom 10 due to the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia's invasion in 2022.
The index evaluates the liveability of 173 cities across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Vienna has consistently been ranked as the world's most liveable city since 2018-20 and again from 2022 onwards.
