Every year, The Economist ranks cities around the world on livability, based on factors including crime and conflict to public transportation and education.
This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the 10 most livable cities in the world, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index 2025.
The index ranks cities on over 30 factors across five categories to determine their overall livability. Factors include:
-
Stability: Prevalence of crime, terror, military conflict, civil unrest/conflict
-
Healthcare: Availability and quality of private and public healthcare, general healthcare indicators
-
Culture and environment: Humidity/temperature rating, cultural and sporting availability, social or religious restrictions
-
Education: Availability and quality of private education, public education indicators
-
Infrastructure: Quality of road network, public transport, international links, availability of good housing
What is the Most Livable City in the World?
Below, we show the 10 most livable cities in the world according to The Economist, and their livability scores.
Copenhagen was ranked the most livable city in the world, ending Vienna’s three-year streak at the top of the rankings.
Denmark’s capital city scored perfect 100s across stability, education, and infrastructure, with an overall score of 98.
Vienna and Zurich tied for second with scores of 97.1. Switzerland—which had two cities rank in the top 10 for livability—also ranked first as the top migration destination to live and work in for 2025.
Vienna saw its scores for stability drop dramatically in the wake of a bomb threat before a Taylor Swift concert (later cancelled), and a planned attack on a city train station in 2025.
Overall, cities in Western Europe and Asia-Pacific continue to dominate the top of the rankings.
Vancouver, Canada is now the only North American city in the top 10, after Calgary saw the biggest drop in ranking, falling from fifth in 2024 to 18th in 2025 due to declines in its healthcare scores.
The average score for livability in 2025 was 76.1 out of 100, the same as 2024. However, scores in the stability category have continue to decline amid widespread geopolitical tension and civil unrest around the world.
To compare this list with last year’s livability rankings, check out the 2024 graphic here.
Loading…
