The Economist’s Global Liveability Index: Melbourne World’s Second Most Liveable City
— Updated on 30 July 2021

The Economist’s Global Liveability Index: Melbourne World’s Second Most Liveable City

— Updated on 30 July 2021

Melbourne continues its dominance over Sydney after being named the world’s second most liveable city. This makes it two years in a row that Melbourne has placed second, with Vienna, Austria once again taking out the top spot.

The results have been gathered by The Economist Intelligence Unit who rank every city in the world by five key criteria; stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. The Austrian capital scored a near-perfect 99.1 out of 100, beating Melbourne by just 0.07 points.

Sydneysiders shouldn’t be too disheartened, with the Harbour City rising from fifth place to third, while little old (r)Adelaide completing the top 10 in tenth place. Other notable cities to make the elusive top rankings include Osaka at four, Vancouver at six and Copenhagen at nine. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the world’s most popular capital cities failed to make an impact, with Paris dropping to 26, London sitting at 48 and the city that never sleeps, New York, only coming in at 58.

“Overall, our index remains dominated by medium-sized cities in wealthy countries,” the report notes. Cities with a population of between 1 million and 3 million with top shelf education, well-funded public healthcare and great public transport are key factors in scoring high on the list.

Check out the top 10 cities below and find out all the results of the Global Liveability Index for 2019 by visiting economist.com.

1. Vienna, Austria

2. Melbourne, Australia

3. Sydney, Australia

4. Osaka, Japan

5. Calgary, Canada

6. Vancouver, Canada

7. Toronto, Canada

8. Tokyo, Japan

9. Copenhagen, Denmark

​10. Adelaide, Australia

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