June 17, 2025, 3:35 pm | Read time: 2 minutes
The British publisher The Economist Group has once again released a ranking of the world’s ten most livable cities. TRAVELBOOK presents the ranking and reveals which city takes the top spot.
For many years, the “Global Liveability Index” by the British “Economist” group has been examining which cities are particularly livable. The ranking considers various factors, such as the political situation and stability, the healthcare system, social security, and infrastructure quality. A total of 173 countries are evaluated based on 30 indicators and then ranked on a 100-point scale. For some of the world’s most livable cities, you don’t have to travel far.
Copenhagen is the Most Livable City in the World
In the past three years, Vienna consistently claimed the title of the world’s most livable city. However, in 2025, Denmark’s capital takes the top spot. Copenhagen triumphed mainly due to its perfect scores in stability, education, and infrastructure. Overall, the city impressed with a total score of 98.0 out of 100 possible points. Vienna and Zurich share second place with 97.1 points each, both achieving perfect scores in healthcare and education.
A significant factor in the decline of Vienna’s rating is the stability score, which has significantly decreased due to recent incidents, including a bomb threat at a Taylor Swift concert last summer. Barsali Bhattacharyya, the deputy director for industry at EIU, stated according to “CNN” that stability scores have “declined globally.” Nevertheless, the “global quality of life […] remained unchanged over the past year.”
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As in previous years, no German city made it into the top 10 of the ranking. However, cities in Western Europe continue to lead the list. Overall, three cities in Australia are represented in the top 10, giving the country the largest share of the ten most livable cities.
At the same time, some Western European cities are among the biggest decliners of 2025. All examined cities in the United Kingdom—London, Manchester, and Edinburgh—fell in the rankings due to widespread unrest and increasing homelessness. The lowest places in the quality of life ranking are mostly occupied by cities from the Middle East and Africa. Thus, Damascus in Syria lands at the bottom of the list of the world’s most livable cities. The complete ranking of the 10 most livable cities:
- Copenhagen – Denmark (98.0)
- Vienna – Austria (97.1)
- Zurich – Switzerland (97.1)
- Melbourne – Australia (97.0)
- Geneva – Switzerland (96.8)
- Sydney – Australia (96.6)
- Osaka – Japan (96.0)
- Auckland – New Zealand (96.0)
- Adelaide – Australia (95.9)
- Vancouver – Canada (95.8)