For the second straight year, Vienna, Austria, is atop the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index. The City of Music — known for its arts and culture — narrowly beat out Copenhagen, Denmark, for the title of Most Liveable City in 2023.
Vienna has held the top spot for eight of the past 10 surveys, based in part on its “exemplary education and health services,” according to the EIU report. The city also received top scores for stability and reliable infrastructure. In all, 173 of the world’s largest and best-known cities are ranked for factors related to stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
After Vienna and Copenhagen, a pair of Australian cities earned high marks: Melbourne and Sydney came in third and fourth on the list, respectively. Vancouver, Canada was the fifth most liveable city on the list.
“EIU’s Liveability Index has risen significantly in the 2023 survey, reaching a 15-year high as the world moves on from the COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare and education scores improve in many cities in Asia and the Middle East and Africa,” the report said.
The Index identified New Zealand’s Wellington (up 35 spots) and Auckland (up 25 spots) and Hanoi, Vietnam (up 20) as cities that made especially significant gains due to improved healthcare scores and a reduction in COVID restrictions.
Cities that ranked at the bottom of the index did so due to ongoing conflict that worsened living conditions for their residents. Damascus, Syria, was in 173rd place — in last place — while Tripoli, Libya was 172nd and Kyiv, Ukraine, placed 165th.
The Economist Intelligence Unit is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, a sister company to The Economist magazine. The unit creates the Global Liveability Index as a way for international businesses to directly compare locations. This can help inform business decisions, set employee compensation and provide data to analyze key development trends; it can also help individuals identify cities that best meet their needs for work and quality of life.