The world appears to be altering at lightning velocity, so it’s maybe good to know that some issues stay the identical — not less than in relation to the most liveable city.
Copenhagen has taken the No. 1 spot on the annual checklist from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for the second yr operating.
The Danish capital beat out Austria’s Vienna, which beforehand had a three-year run on the high, for the second yr in a row on the annual list, launched on Tuesday.
The EIU, a sister group to The Economist journal, ranked 173 cities all over the world on plenty of various factors, together with schooling, stability, healthcare, infrastructure and tradition.
Copenhagen obtained “perfect” scores in three classes, together with stability, infrastructure and schooling.
For American audiences trying down the index, New York rose three locations to 66th, due to a major 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,” stated a spokesperson from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
In third place was Australia’s Melbourne, rising one spot for the reason that earlier yr. Another Australian city, Sydney, jumped from sixth to fourth place.
The Swiss city of Zurich, which tied with Vienna in second place final yr, 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 had been mirrored within the rankings of cities within the Gulf area, which noticed a decline in scores for the steadiness class.
The largest downward movers had been the Omani capital Muscat, falling 14 locations to 123rd, and Kuwait City, dropping 12 spots to one hundred and fifth.
The United Kingdom has bounced again after a drop in scores final yr because 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 liveability, its common rating of 91.7 was barely decrease than in 2025, whereas Asia’s rose by 0.3 to 73.9, largely due to stronger healthcare scores, notably in Chinese cities comparable 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 continues to be ranked because the least liveable on this planet, there was a shake-up on the backside of the checklist with Iranian city Tehran dropping to 164th place because of the warfare, whereas Kyiv, Ukraine has fallen to 166th place.
“The average liveability 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,” stated Ana Nicholls, business 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