The Global Liveability Index – Top 10 Cities of 2025

Intro – The Global Liveability Index – Top 10 Cities of 2025

Europe and Australia dominate the top 10 spots this year. Osaka in a tie with Auckland (both ranked 7th) and Vancouver (10th) also made it to the list. The most liveable cities are characterized by effective governance, well developed infrastructure, strong accountability by city officials and happy residents.

The Global Liveability Index is a yearly assessment published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), ranking 173 global cities for their urban quality of life based on assessments of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Copenhagen is the World’s Most Liveable City

Denmark’s capital has claimed the top spot in EIU’s Global Liveability Index 2025, ending Vienna’s three-year dominance. Copenhagen achieved perfect scores of 100 for stability, education and infrastructure, moving up from second place to become the world’s most comfortable city to live in.

Recurring Cities among the Top 10 since 2015

Cities from the Western world typically dominate the top 10, reflecting their widespread availability of goods and services, low personal risk and an effective infrastructure.

The Global Liveability Index – Top 10 Cities of 2025

The Global Liveability Index – Top 10 Cities of 2024 >

The Least Liveable

At the lower end of the index, Damascus, Syria, remains the least liveable city, followed by Tripoli, Libya.

How is Johannesburg Ranked?

In 2024 Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, had dropped five places down the EIU’s rankings to 86^th due to very high unemployment rate, uncontrolled crime and collapsing public services. Johannesburg’s rank in the 2025 Global Liveability Index is not available…

Worldwide Cost of Living Survey

The EIU also publishes a Worldwide Cost of Living Survey that compares the cost of living in a range of global cities.

Resources

The Global Liveability Index 2025 >

Featured photo by Febiyan on Unsplash