Calgary and Vancouver are in the top ten of a list of the world’s most liveable cities, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2024 Global Liveability Index. Calgary tied Geneva Switzerland for fifth spot, with Vancouver drawing even in seventh spot with Sydney Australia, while Toronto didn’t make the top ten, which it did last year. The index ranks the liveability of 173 cities across five key categories, including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. “An acute housing crisis has pulled down infrastructure scores for Canada, with Toronto registering the biggest decline among the Canadian cities, and dropping out of our list of the top ten most liveable cities from 9th last year to the 12th position, leaving Calgary and Vancouver as the only two North American cities in the top ten,” says the report. North America achieved the highest average score for education. However, marks for infrastructure were lower than the previous year in Canada due to “an acute housing crisis,” which has affected several regions,” says the report. “The situation is particularly worrying in Australia and Canada, where the availability of rental properties is at an all-time low and purchase prices have continued to rise despite interest-rate increases.” Nailing down the top spot for liveability was Vienna, Austria, for the third year in a row. Hong Kong rose the most in 2024, up to 50th, helped by improvements in stability and healthcare. “Western Europe retained its position as the most liveable region in the world this year, with Copenhagen and Zurich joining Geneva in the top ten,” says the report. There are 30 western European cities in this year’s ranking, reporting an average score of 92 out of 100. However, the region has seen the biggest fall in score, owing to a deterioration in the stability category, which was also the biggest declining factor in all five categories in the index globally. "In Germany, six cities were among the largest decliners due to more frequent disruptive protests," says the report, adding “the past 12 months have seen increases in protests and gatherings across western Europe on a variety of issues, from the rise of far-right extremism to EU agricultural policy and anti-immigration.” While the ability to protest is an important part of any democracy, an increase in the number and size of protests, coupled with more frequent instances of violence, can indicate a lack of societal cohesion that can undermine political stability, said Barsali Bhattacharyya, deputy industry director at EIU. "Global liveability has risen fractionally over the past year but risks to stability remain,” said Bhattacharyya. “Still-high inflation accompanied by high interest rates and other economic headwinds led to another year of frequent protests across the world.” “Dissatisfaction with government policies ranging from agriculture to immigration have accompanied rising polarization in many countries as a record number of the world’s population vote in national elections.” There are 25 US cities on the list this year, with the two largest, Los Angeles and New York, ranking 58th and 70th respectively. All 25 of the US cities were in the highest tier of liveability (above 80). “The US boasts a world-leading average education score and compares favourably with western Europe in terms of infrastructure and culture,” said the report, adding cities in the Middle East and North Africa “presented a mixed bag.” “Israel’s conflict with Hamas has led to Tel Aviv being the biggest faller down the ranks, dropping by 20 places to the 112th place. While the conflict has dealt a blow to the region’s stability scores, strong gains in education and healthcare in many of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have pushed up the region’s overall liveability.” “Geopolitical risks also continue to weigh on our index, with the war with Hamas dragging Tel Aviv down 20 ranks,” said Bhattacharyya. “Since we conducted our survey, there have been more instances of civil unrest and demonstrations around the world, such as the campus protests across the US, suggesting continuing stress on liveability that is unlikely to ease in the near future.” The biggest increase in scores was registered by the cities in the UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai) and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar). Despite improvements, the region is also home to the least liveable cities — Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli (Libya) and Damascus (Syria). The top 10 most liveable cities in 2024: 1. Vienna, Austria 2. Copenhagen, Denmark 3. Zurich, Switzerland 4. Melbourne, Australia T5. Calgary, Canada T5. Geneva, Switzerland 7. Sydney, Australia 7. Vancouver, Canada T9. Osaka, Japan T9. Auckland, New Zealand
Calgary and Vancouver are in the top ten of a list of the world’s most liveable cities, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2024 Global Liveability Index. Calgary tied Geneva Switzerland for fifth spot, with Vancouver drawing even in seventh spot with Sydney Australia, while Toronto didn’t make the top ten, which it did last year. The index ranks the liveability of 173 cities across five key categories, including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. “An acute housing crisis has pulled down infrastructure scores for Canada, with Toronto registering the biggest decline among the Canadian cities, and dropping out of our list of the top ten most liveable cities from 9th last year to the 12th position, leaving Calgary and Vancouver as the only two North American cities in the top ten,” says the report. North America achieved the highest average score for education. However, marks for infrastructure were lower than the previous year in Canada due to “an acute housing crisis,” which has affected several regions,” says the report. “The situation is particularly worrying in Australia and Canada, where the availability of rental properties is at an all-time low and purchase prices have continued to rise despite interest-rate increases.” Nailing down the top spot for liveability was Vienna, Austria, for the third year in a row. Hong Kong rose the most in 2024, up to 50th, helped by improvements in stability and healthcare. “Western Europe retained its position as the most liveable region in the world this year, with Copenhagen and Zurich joining Geneva in the top ten,” says the report. There are 30 western European cities in this year’s ranking, reporting an average score of 92 out of 100. However, the region has seen the biggest fall in score, owing to a deterioration in the stability category, which was also the biggest declining factor in all five categories in the index globally. "In Germany, six cities were among the largest decliners due to more frequent disruptive protests," says the report, adding “the past 12 months have seen increases in protests and gatherings across western Europe on a variety of issues, from the rise of far-right extremism to EU agricultural policy and anti-immigration.” While the ability to protest is an important part of any democracy, an increase in the number and size of protests, coupled with more frequent instances of violence, can indicate a lack of societal cohesion that can undermine political stability, said Barsali Bhattacharyya, deputy industry director at EIU. "Global liveability has risen fractionally over the past year but risks to stability remain,” said Bhattacharyya. “Still-high inflation accompanied by high interest rates and other economic headwinds led to another year of frequent protests across the world.” “Dissatisfaction with government policies ranging from agriculture to immigration have accompanied rising polarization in many countries as a record number of the world’s population vote in national elections.” There are 25 US cities on the list this year, with the two largest, Los Angeles and New York, ranking 58th and 70th respectively. All 25 of the US cities were in the highest tier of liveability (above 80). “The US boasts a world-leading average education score and compares favourably with western Europe in terms of infrastructure and culture,” said the report, adding cities in the Middle East and North Africa “presented a mixed bag.” “Israel’s conflict with Hamas has led to Tel Aviv being the biggest faller down the ranks, dropping by 20 places to the 112th place. While the conflict has dealt a blow to the region’s stability scores, strong gains in education and healthcare in many of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have pushed up the region’s overall liveability.” “Geopolitical risks also continue to weigh on our index, with the war with Hamas dragging Tel Aviv down 20 ranks,” said Bhattacharyya. “Since we conducted our survey, there have been more instances of civil unrest and demonstrations around the world, such as the campus protests across the US, suggesting continuing stress on liveability that is unlikely to ease in the near future.” The biggest increase in scores was registered by the cities in the UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai) and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar). Despite improvements, the region is also home to the least liveable cities — Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli (Libya) and Damascus (Syria). The top 10 most liveable cities in 2024: 1. Vienna, Austria 2. Copenhagen, Denmark 3. Zurich, Switzerland 4. Melbourne, Australia T5. Calgary, Canada T5. Geneva, Switzerland 7. Sydney, Australia 7. Vancouver, Canada T9. Osaka, Japan T9. Auckland, New Zealand
