For the second consecutive year, Vienna is the world’s most liveable city according to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) 2023 Global Liveability Index. Topping the ranking for the fourth time in five years, Vienna has excelled in stability, culture and entertainment, and reliable infrastructure. Copenhagen in Denmark maintained its second position while Melbourne and Sydney came in third and fourth position, rising to the top 5 where they previously had a consistent presence among the leading positions, before the pandemic.
Under the titles of Optimism and Instability, this year’s global index score has returned to pre-Covid-19 days, highlighting that the world has fully recovered from the pandemic. Ranking living conditions in 173 cities based on stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure, the survey suggests that nowadays, “life in cities is a bit better than at any time in the past 15 years”, although Stability scores dropped on average in 2023, due to worldwide clashes, political disruptions, social protests, inflation, and wars.
The increase in living standards this year can be attributed primarily to advancements in education and healthcare scores across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, following the post-pandemic period. In fact, the region that has rebounded the most has to be Asia Pacific, while Western European cities fell down the rankings mainly because of strikes and civil unrest. On another hand, the survey also lists the least liveable cities in 2023. For over a decade, Damascus has consistently ranked as the least livable city in the index, occupying the bottom position. Despite Kyiv's attempts to safeguard itself from the conflict, it too finds a place among the ten lowest-ranked cities.
Check the ranking below of the world's most liveable cities in 2023.
Top Ten Most Liveable Cities in 2023
1- Vienna, Austria
2- Copenhagen, Denmark
3- Melbourne, Australia
4- Sydney, Australia
5- Vancouver, Canada
6- Zurich, Switzerland
7= Calgary, Canada
7= Geneva, Switzerland
9- Toronto, Canada
10= Osaka, Japan
10= Auckland, New Zealand
Read below for the world's least liveable cities in 2023.
Ten of the least liveable cities in 2023
- Damascus, Syria
- Tripoli, Libya
- Algiers, Algeria
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Karachi, Pakistan
- Port Moresby, PNG
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Harare, Zimbabwe
- Kyiv, Ukraine
Info via The Economist.
