The Economist Intelligence Unit has once again named Vienna the most liveable city in the world in 2023.
The EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) is part of “The Economist Group” and provides forecasting and consulting services at an international level.
The “Global Liveability Index”, which has been published annually since 2004, ranks 173 cities worldwide according to a comprehensive set of partly qualitative and quantitative factors distributed across five general areas – stability, infrastructure, healthcare, education, culture and environment.
- Stability covers the amount of crime, threat of terror, war and civil conflicts.
- Culture and Environment covers level of social or religious restrictions, level of censorship, level of corruption, sporting availability, cultural availability, food and drink, consumer goods and services, humidity/temperature rating, climate inconvenience for travelers.
- Infrastructure covers the quality of the road network, public transport, international links, energy provision, water provision, and telecommunications.
- Healthcare covers the availability and quality of private and public healthcare.
- Education covers the availability and quality of private and public education.
This year, the global average score was the highest in 15 years, with health and education in the cities in particular seeing a marked improvement after the corona pandemic. Only the stability scores have slipped since last year amid the numerous instances of civil unrest around the world.
The purpose of EIU’s survey is to clarify which cities offer the best and worst living conditions. The report also highlights the world’s worst cities.
”Global Liveability Index” is therefore practical for people planning to move to another country or travelers who want inspiration for their next holiday.
The world’s best place to live
This year’s top ten best cities are almost identical to last year’s. Once again this year, Copenhagen and Vienna have received the title of second best and best city in the world to live in, respectively.
The Austrian capital earned the top spot due to its stability, its robust health and education systems and its strong infrastructure, among other factors.
In June 2023, Vienna will once again take first place as the most liveable city. Back in 2018, Vienna became the first European city ever to win the ranking, overtaking Melbourne as the most liveable city after seven years. In 2019 and 2022, Vienna retained the first place.
In addition to criteria such as health care, education, infrastructure and culture, Vienna scored particularly well in terms of security and stability. However, the city has one drawback – a “relative lack” of major sporting events, but otherwise life in Vienna is top class.
In second to fifth place are Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney and Vancouver.
Did you know, that EIU was founded in 1946 and is part of the Economist Group (publisher of the Economist newspaper) specializing in research and analysis.
This is what this year’s top ten list looks like:
- Vienna, Austria – 98.4
- Copenhagen, Denmark – 98.0
- Melbourne, Australia – 97.4
- Sydney, Australia – 97, 4
- Vancouver, Canada – 97, 3
- Zurich, Switzerland – 97, 1
- Calgary, Canada and Geneva, Switzerland (tie) – 96, 8
- Toronto, Canada – 96, 5
- Osaka, Japan and Auckland, New Zealand (tie) 96.0
The world’s worst cities
Of the 10 cities that stand out significantly worse in the survey in 2023 than the previous year, the American, European and British cities dominate.
Sweden’s capital Stockholm has fallen 22 places compared to last year, and is now in 43rd place. Other European cities with significantly worse results than last year include the Netherlands’ second largest city, Rotterdam (44) and the south-eastern French city of Lyon (37).
The Scottish capital, Edinburgh, which took part in the survey for the first time in 2022, has fallen 23 places on last year, and is now No. 58. Other UK cities have also fared poorly in the rankings this year, with Manchester falling 16 places and London 12.
The two American cities of San Diego and Los Angeles each fell 17 places compared to last year. The Hawaiian capital, Honolulu (25), was the best American city on the list. The city has moved up six places compared to last year.
At the bottom of the ranking are the Syrian capital, Damascus (173), and the Lebanese capital, Tripoli (172), where residents continue to suffer from “social unrest, terrorism and conflict”, according to the EIU.