Australia has come out one of the big winners of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index for 2025, with Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide all among the top ten cities in the world.
Melbourne ranked highest of Australia’s cities in fourth, with Sydney following in sixth and then Adelaide in ninth.
Copenhagen came out in top spot, with Vienna tied in second with Zurich.
Geneva, another Swiss city, placed in fifth while New Zealand made an appearance with Auckland in equal seventh alongside Osaka.
Vancouver came in tenth to round out the top ten list.
Melbourne has a strong history with the Index, having held the title of best city to live in for seven consecutive years until 2017.
The following year, Vienna surpassed Melbourne, with the Victorian capital finishing second in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
The spread of COVID-19, international borders closing, and lockdowns dominating our lives (and Melbourne achieving another -negative- international first, this one in total days of confinement) caused a decline that was also recorded in the indicators that shape the “best cities”.
In 2022, Melbourne found itself in 10th place and Sydney in 13th place, though Australia’s cities bounced back to the top from 2023 onwards.
The Index evaluates 173 cities internationally in categories like stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide all received excellent ratings for healthcare and education this year.
The Economist Intelligence Unit noted that this year’s overall results reflect the continued decline in global stability, “under the influence of intensifying geopolitical conflicts and internal unrest.”
The highest-ranking US city on the list was Honolulu, Hawaii, in 23rd place.
Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia rose the most places in the rankings this year, from 148th to 135th.
Calgary in Canada had the biggest decline from fifth to 18th.
War-besieged Damascus in Syria remained the worst city to live in, with Tripoli in Libya following.
It is recalled that at the beginning of the year, four Australian cities were among the 50 “best in the world” for 2025, according to the global ranking of the travel and entertainment magazine “Time Out”.
Melbourne was in fourth place, Sydney in 15th, Perth in 33rd and Brisbane in 37th.
It was the first time Australia has had four cities in the Time Out ranking.
The performance of the capital of Victoria was notable, recording a “jump” of 16 places, from 20th in 2024 to fourth this year, while the capital of New South Wales also rose 16 places, from 31st place last year.
