Many people move overseas for a better quality of life. And what better place to look for statistics on where is best for liveability than the Global Liveability Index?
Vienna, the most liveable city for the third year in a row.
The Global Liveability Index is an annual report conducted by the Economist Intelligence. It takes a look around the world at which locations provide the best and worst living conditions. To assess this, it takes the following factors into consideration: stability, healthcare, culture & environment and education. These are broken down further. For example, stability includes the prevalence of petty crime, the prevalence of violent crime, threat of terror, threat of military conflict and the threat of unrest/conflict. Places are then given an overall ranking.
Download the Global Liveability Index here.
2024’s top ten cities
In 2024, the following cities are the top ten most liveable in the world: Vienna, Austria; Copenhagen, Denmark; Zurich, Switzerland; Melbourne, Australia; Calgary, Canada; Geneva, Switzerland; Sydney, Australia; Vancouver, Canada; Osaka, Japan and Auckland, New Zealand.
Vienna has now held the top spot for three years in a row, with an overall score of 98.4 out of 100. It secured a full 100 in stability, healthcare, education and infrastructure.
Western Europe: most liveable region
Since last year, three more cities in Western Europe – Copenhagen, Zurich and Geneva – have made the top ten. Indeed, western Europe is the best-performing region for liveability. It came top for four categories, while north America beat it for education. However, western Europe performed a little less well than last year, owing to issues in the stability category.
On average, the top 30 western European cities reported an impressive 92 out of 100.
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How did the UK fare?
Unfortunately for the UK, the capital failed to make the top twenty or thirty or even forty. It secured 45th place. London was beaten by Manchester, which slid in at 43rd.
Australia & Canada took a small tumble
Melbourne, the 4th most liveable city.
Melbourne (no.4) and Sydney (no.7) remain in the top ten but performed less well than last year, due to a lack of housing availability. The report highlighted that the cost of living crisis continues to affect the property market in Australia with the availability of rental properties sliding. Both Australian cities on the list got top scores for healthcare and education, only separated by their varying scores for culture & environment, which varied by just 1.4 points.
Toronto dropped out of the ten to twelfth position for similar reasons.
However, panning out to the top twenty and the liveability of Canada and Australia is clear. Adelaide secured 11th place, Perth 15th and Brisbane 16th.
Greatest improver: Hong Kong
Nowhere climbed up the rankings more than Hong Kong. Owing to improvements in stability and healthcare, it leapt from 61st place to 50th. While Israel fell twenty places to 112th.
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