Western Europe and Canada are home to the world’s best cities to live in, according to the Global Liveability Index for 2022. Six of Europe’s and three of Canada’s cities made it to the top 10 of the index published by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Meanwhile, other previously leading cities recorded a dramatic drop in their positions. The Index analysed 173 cities worldwide against five general categories: healthcare, stability, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
The Global Liveability Index 2022 ranks Vienna as the most liveable city in the world in 2022. The city also headed the ranking in 2018 and 2019 but fell to 12th position in 2021. Commenting on this evolution, the report’s authors noted:
“Cities that were towards the top of our rankings before the pandemic have rebounded on the back of their stability, good infrastructure, and services, as well as enjoyable leisure activities.”
The Danish capital, Copenhagen, is named the second best city this year, while Zurich sits in third place. Canada is the country with the most cities in top 10, with Calgary sharing third position with Zurich, Vancouver coming 5th, and Toronto 8th. This is followed by Switzerland with two cities in the top 10 with Geneva coming sixth as well as Zurich sharing the third position. Geneva is the only one of the most expensive cities in the world in 2022 that made it to the top 10 best liveable cities.
Fig.1. Most liveable cities: Top 10 positions
Source: Global Liveability Index for 2022
Some cities that have led the list in the past have now dropped dramatically in the ranking. For instance, Auckland, the front-runner in 2021 takes 34th position this year and Melbourne, having also been a leader in the past, occupies only 10th position in 2022. Wellington failed to make it to the top 10 ranking whereas in 2021 it had occupied 4th place.
In contrast, some European cities have significantly increased their place in the ranking due to their economic recovery. For instance, Frankfurt, which occupies 7th position this year, has moved up 32 places compared to last year. Hamburg and Dusseldorf also climbed dramatically, moving up 31 and 28 places compared to 2021 and now ranking 16 and 22, respectively.
The least liveable cities according to the ranking are Damascus in Syria and Lagos in Nigeria, followed by Tripoli in Libya and Algiers in Algeria.
Fig.2. Least liveable cities: Bottom ten positions
Source: Global Liveability Index for 2022
As for the global average, the report states that as economies rebound following the pandemic-related devastation, the global average liveability score reached 73.6 in 2022 compared to 69.1 last year. Prior to the pandemic, the global average was 75.9 which means that in 2022 countries have almost recovered to their pre-pandemic scores.
