The world appears to be altering at lightning pace, so it’s maybe good to know that some issues stay the identical — no less than in relation to the most livable city.
Copenhagen has taken the No. 1 spot on the annual listing from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for the second 12 months operating.
The Danish capital beat out Austria’s Vienna, which beforehand had a three-year run on the high, for the second 12 months in a row on the annual list, launched on Tuesday.
The EIU, a sister group to The Economist journal, ranked 173 cities world wide on a variety of various factors, together with schooling, stability, healthcare, infrastructure and tradition.
Copenhagen acquired “perfect” scores in three classes, together with stability, infrastructure and schooling.
For American audiences wanting down the index, New York rose three locations to 66th, because of a big enchancment in its scores within the stability class, a results of falling crime charges and perceived decrease dangers of terrorist assaults.
While the Big Apple is climbing, Honolulu stays the highest-ranked US city total, regardless of falling two locations to twenty fifth place.
Vancouver, at No. 9, was the one North American city to crack the worldwide high 10.
Copenhagen’s persistent success on the high was all the way down to a “winning combination of excellent scores in stability and infrastructure, great culture and environment and high quality of public services,” mentioned a spokesperson from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
In third place was Australia’s Melbourne, rising one spot for the reason that earlier 12 months. Another Australian city, Sydney, jumped from sixth to fourth place.
The Swiss city of Zurich, which tied with Vienna in second place final 12 months, dropped three spots, with fellow Swiss city Geneva simply behind at quantity six. Osaka, in Japan, retained seventh place, whereas Australia’s Adelaide got here in at eighth. Tokyo was tenth.
Meanwhile, the repercussions of the war with Iran have been mirrored within the rankings of cities within the Gulf area, which noticed a decline in scores for the soundness class.
The largest downward movers have been the Omani capital Muscat, falling 14 locations to 123rd, and Kuwait City, dropping 12 spots to a hundred and fifth.
The United Kingdom has bounced again after a drop in scores final 12 months as a consequence of a interval of rioting and unrest. Manchester leads as its highest-ranked city for the second time, in 52nd place, beating out London, which was 54th, in addition to Edinburgh, at sixty fourth.
Although Western Europe ranked because the strongest area for livability, its common rating of 91.7 was barely decrease than in 2025, whereas Asia’s rose by 0.3 to 73.9, largely because of stronger healthcare scores, significantly in Chinese cities akin to Fuzhou, positioned within the southeast of the nation, which climbed seven locations to 93rd.
“We upgraded healthcare scores across the board for Chinese cities, reflecting the national improvements to funding schemes and investment,” added a spokesperson from the Economist Intelligence Unit, pointing to a brand new long-term care insurance coverage system within the nation in addition to the development of healthcare provision.
While Damascus, Syria remains to be ranked because the least livable on the earth, there was a shake-up on the backside of the listing with Iranian city Tehran dropping to 164th place on account of the warfare, whereas Kyiv, Ukraine has fallen to 166th place.
“The average livability score globally is the same as last year, because the stability declines (in the Middle East) and healthcare improvements (in Asia) offset each other across the 173 cities,” mentioned Ana Nicholls, trade director at EIU.
“Score increases in Asia mean that there are now nine Asian cities in the top 20, alongside seven European cities.”
1. Copenhagen, Denmark
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Melbourne, Australia
4. Sydney, Australia
5. Zurich, Switzerland
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Osaka, Japan
8. Adelaide, Australia
9. Vancouver, Canada
10. Tokyo, Japan