This article is published in collaboration with Statista
by Anna Fleck
Each year, The Economist publishes a ranking of the cities with the best living conditions. In 2023, the Liveability Index saw improvements, rising from an index score of 73.2 out of a possible 100 in 2022 to 76.2 this year. This is partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic finally subsiding, as well as healthcare and education scores improving in multiple cities in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The only area to see a decline was the category of stability, reflecting increasing perceptions of corruption and civil unrest amid a cost-of-living crisis, as well as an increase in crime in several cities.
As the following chart shows, Vienna has been crowned as the world’s most liveable city, having secured an impressive score of 98.4 points. The Austrian capital has come first several times in recent years thanks to its countless options for culture and entertainment, as well as its stability, good infrastructure and excellent healthcare. The Danish capital of Copenhagen and the Australian city of Melbourne are the next two cities to round off the podium.
Where Canada is the best represented country with three metropolises (Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto) in the top 10, Australia also performs well, with both Melbourne and Sydney rising to near the top of the ranking, partly due to the country’s healthcare improving with less stress on it from Covid.
At the bottom of the list come Damascus in Syria, Tripoli in Libya and Algiers in Algeria. The Ukrainian city of Kiev also features in the bottom 10, having been added back to the index after it was removed due to Russia’s invasion in 2022. It ranks 165th, with its score having dropped 5.9 percentage points since 2021 due to the damage inflicted on the city in terms of stability, infrastructure and general livability.
The study is based on the "Global Liveability Index", which determines and compares the varying quality of life of each city’s residents, grouped under five subcategories: infrastructure, healthcare, culture and environment, education and stability. The full list comprises 173 cities.
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