A New Equilibrium in Global Liveability
The 2025 Global Liveability Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) paints a picture of a world in a state of precarious balance. For the first time in four years, a new city sits atop the ranking, with Copenhagen, Denmark, displacing Vienna, Austria, from the premier position it held for three consecutive years.1
This shift at the apex of global liveability is the most visible manifestation of a deeper, more complex global narrative. While the change in leadership is significant, the most telling finding of the 2025 survey is the stagnation of the global average liveability score. Across the 173 cities evaluated, the average score remains unchanged from 2024, holding steady at 76.1 out of a possible 100.3
However, this statistical stillness is profoundly misleading. It does not represent a world that has found a comfortable equilibrium, but rather one caught in a powerful tug-of-war between countervailing forces. On one side, the index reveals continued, albeit marginal, improvements in the categories of Healthcare, Education, and Infrastructure across the globe.5
This reflects a sustained, if slowing, recovery of public services and a return to normalcy following the widespread disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. These gains are particularly notable in developing economies, especially within the Middle East and North Africa, where strategic investments are bearing fruit.5
On the other side, these positive developments are being almost perfectly counteracted by a significant and widespread erosion in the Stability category.4 This decline is not a minor fluctuation but a powerful global trend driven by a confluence of factors, including escalating geopolitical tensions, heightened threats of terrorism, widespread civil unrest, and persistent housing crises.3 The impact of this deteriorating stability is felt across the world, from the highest-ranked cities in Western Europe to developing urban centers in Asia.
This core paradox—of improving services being cancelled out by declining stability—is the central theme of the 2025 report. It suggests that the world may be reaching an inflection point. The predictable rebound of "soft" infrastructure like healthcare and education from the pandemic may have largely run its course.
Now, the more intractable and unpredictable "hard" realities of social cohesion and geopolitical security are becoming the dominant drivers shaping the quality of urban life. This report will deconstruct these findings, beginning with an analysis of the top and bottom rankings, followed by a deep dive into the performance of the five core pillars of liveability.
It will then explore the divergent trends across key global regions before concluding with an examination of the strategic imperatives these findings present for corporations, policymakers, and global talent.
The 2025 Global Liveability Rankings: An Analysis of the Apex and the Abyss
The 2025 rankings reveal both consistency and significant change at the highest levels of global liveability. While the list of elite cities remains dominated by familiar names from Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the reshuffling at the very top underscores the increasing importance of perceived safety and security.7
The New Champion and the Dethroned Leader
Copenhagen's ascent to the number one position is a testament to its exceptional performance across multiple metrics. The Danish capital achieved an overall score of 98.0 out of 100, bolstered by perfect scores of 100 in the critical categories of Stability, Education, and Infrastructure.2
This combination of flawless social stability, world-class education, and seamless infrastructure proved to be the winning formula. Interestingly, Copenhagen's overall score of 98.0 is identical to its score in 2024 when it ranked second.5 Its victory in 2025 was therefore not the result of its own improvement, but rather a reflection of its resilience in the face of declining stability elsewhere.
The city that ceded the top spot, Vienna, fell to a joint second-place ranking alongside Zurich, Switzerland.2 The Austrian capital’s overall score dropped from a commanding 98.4 in 2024 to 97.1 in 2025.5 This decline is attributable to a single factor: a sharp drop in its Stability score from a perfect 100 in 2024 to 95.0 this year.5 This downgrade was not due to a systemic breakdown but was a direct consequence of several high-profile security incidents.
These included a bomb threat that led to the cancellation of a Taylor Swift concert in the summer of 2024 and the discovery of a planned terrorist attack on a city train station in early 2025.5 Despite this setback, Vienna’s fundamental strengths remain undeniable, as it maintained perfect 100-point scores for Healthcare, Education, and Infrastructure.5
The case of Vienna provides a powerful illustration of a new dynamic at the top of the index. For cities that have already achieved near-perfection in public services and infrastructure, the perception of safety has become the paramount and most volatile determinant of their rank. A city's long-held reputation for excellence can be swiftly undermined by a few isolated but significant security threats, demonstrating the fragility of liveability in an increasingly uncertain world.
The Elite Cohort and the "Goldilocks" Model
The remainder of the top ten is populated by cities that consistently demonstrate a high quality of life. Following Copenhagen, Vienna, and Zurich are Melbourne, Australia, at fourth, and Geneva, Switzerland, at fifth. Sydney, Australia, moved up to sixth place, while Japan's Osaka and New Zealand's Auckland share seventh. Adelaide, the third Australian city in the elite group, ranks ninth, with Vancouver, Canada, rounding out the top ten.2
A closer look at the composition of this elite group reveals a distinct pattern. The top-ranked cities are overwhelmingly medium-sized urban centers located in wealthy, politically stable, and often neutral or non-confrontational nations.
There is a conspicuous absence of global "alpha" cities like New York (ranked 69th), London (54th), or Tokyo from the absolute apex of the list.2 This suggests that extreme size and global economic or political centrality may be evolving into liabilities in the liveability calculus. Such megacities often face greater infrastructure strain, higher crime rates, and increased exposure to social unrest and terrorism, which weigh down their scores, particularly in the Stability and Infrastructure categories.3
The ideal city, according to the 2025 index, follows a "Goldilocks" model: one that is large enough to offer a rich tapestry of cultural amenities and economic opportunities but small and cohesive enough to remain manageable, safe, and efficient.
Sources:.5 Note: 2024 rank and score data for Adelaide were not available in the provided materials.
The Abyss: Cities at the Bottom of the Index
At the other end of the spectrum, the list of the world's least liveable cities is marked by a tragic consistency, dominated by urban centers scarred by war, conflict, and the collapse of state institutions. For the past several years, Damascus, Syria, has remained at the very bottom of the index, and 2025 is no exception.4
The city's score is an unchanged 30.7, reflecting the deep and persistent damage inflicted by years of civil war. Even a dramatic regime change in Syria in December 2024, which saw the toppling of the Baathist government after 61 years, has not yet translated into any tangible improvement in living conditions.5 Scores for stability and healthcare remain exceptionally poor, illustrating that recovery from such profound conflict is a generational challenge.
Just above Damascus is Tripoli, Libya, another city plagued by political instability and violence.2 The rest of the bottom ten includes Dhaka, Bangladesh; Karachi, Pakistan; Algiers, Algeria; Harare, Zimbabwe; and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.2 The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, also remains near the bottom, a direct consequence of the ongoing war with Russia which has devastated its infrastructure and stability.
The vast chasm between the scores at the top and bottom of the index—a gap of more than 65 points between Copenhagen and Damascus—serves as a stark reminder of the profound global inequality in quality of life and basic security.
Deconstructing Liveability: A Deep Dive into the Five Core Pillars
The overall liveability score is a composite measure derived from five distinct categories, each weighted according to its importance. A detailed analysis of the global performance within each pillar reveals the complex dynamics shaping urban life in 2025.
3.1 Stability (Weight: 25%): The Eroding Bedrock of Urban Life
Stability has emerged as the most critical and volatile category in the 2025 index. It is the only pillar to see a decline in its global average score, and this erosion is the primary reason the overall global liveability score has failed to improve.4 This decline is not attributable to a single cause but rather a matrix of interconnected global threats.
- Geopolitical Tensions: The risk of military conflict has directly impacted the stability scores of several Asian cities. In Taiwan, increased uncertainty over China's intentions in the Taiwan Strait has lowered scores, while in India, a major terrorist attack and subsequent military confrontation with Pakistan have had a similar effect.2 The escalation of the Israeli-Gaza conflict has also had ripple effects, contributing to a lower stability score for Tehran, Iran.5
- Civil Unrest and Terrorism: Western Europe, despite its high rankings, is not immune. Widespread rioting in the United Kingdom in 2024, fueled by anti-immigrant misinformation, led to significant drops in the stability scores and overall ranks of London, Manchester, and Edinburgh.2 Vienna's demotion from the top spot was a direct result of terrorism scares.5
- Social and Structural Issues: In the United States, low stability scores are a chronic problem. The EIU attributes this to a "greater incidence of social unrest, which is often rooted in the country's racial inequalities, as well as weak gun-control laws that mean crime is often violent and fatal".3 Widespread housing crises in many developed nations are also cited as a contributing factor to social dissatisfaction and instability.3
The systemic nature of these threats suggests that the decline in stability is not a temporary anomaly. It reflects a more fragile and polarized global environment where economic precarity, political polarization, and geopolitical conflict are mutually reinforcing, creating a challenging backdrop for urban life.
3.2 Healthcare (Weight: 20%): A Story of Divergent Fortunes
The global average score for Healthcare saw a marginal improvement in 2025, but this aggregate figure conceals two starkly different narratives playing out across the world.5
On one hand, there is a clear trend of rapid improvement in the Middle East. Cities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have driven the upswing in the global average, with oil-rich governments making massive investments to expand public healthcare systems and attract private investment into building state-of-the-art hospitals.5
This is a core component of national economic diversification strategies, such as Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, and is directly reflected in the significant rank improvement of cities like Al Khobar.2
On the other hand, some of the most developed Western nations are experiencing a degradation of their once-unimpeachable healthcare systems. All four Canadian cities surveyed—Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal—saw their healthcare scores decline this year.2
This is attributed to sustained pressure on the country's decentralized national health service, with unresolved funding debates, chronic staff shortages, and long waiting lists for procedures and checkups creating significant strain.2
This juxtaposition reveals a potential global rebalancing. While mature, historically strong public systems are showing signs of fraying under financial and demographic pressure, emerging economies are leveraging resource wealth to rapidly build their healthcare capacity, potentially creating new centers of medical excellence.
3.3 Culture & Environment (Weight: 25%): The Quality of Life Quotient
This category, which assesses everything from cultural amenities and sporting availability to green space and climate, is a crucial differentiator for top-tier cities and a key factor in what makes them "talent magnets".7
Cities that excel in this area, such as Auckland (with a score of 97.9) and Vancouver (97.2), offer a quality of life that transcends basic services.5 In an era where skilled professionals can work from anywhere, a vibrant cultural scene, access to nature, and strong environmental policies are increasingly critical in attracting and retaining talent.7
The importance of this category is evident in the case of Osaka. The Japanese city achieved perfect scores in Stability, Healthcare, and Education, yet it is held back from a higher overall ranking by its relatively lower score of 86.8 in Culture & Environment.8
This demonstrates that while safety and services are foundational, a rich and appealing environment is essential for a city to reach the absolute pinnacle of liveability.
3.4 Education (Weight: 10%): A Consistent Hallmark of Excellence
Like healthcare, the global average for education saw a marginal improvement in 2025.5 For the world's most liveable cities, a top-tier education system is a non-negotiable, foundational requirement. This is evidenced by the fact that every single city in the top ten achieved a perfect score of 100 in the Education category.5
This makes education a "table stakes" pillar for elite liveability; it does not differentiate the best from the very best, but its absence would be an immediate disqualifier. Regionally, North America remains the world's top performer in education, although the EIU warns that this position is vulnerable to potential public spending cuts in the United States.3
3.5 Infrastructure (Weight: 20%): The Foundation of a Functional City
The Infrastructure category, which covers the quality of road networks, public transport, international links, housing, and utilities, also recorded a slight improvement in its global average.5
Unsurprisingly, the world's most liveable cities excel here. Copenhagen and Vienna lead the way with perfect scores of 100, reflecting their world-class public transport and high-quality housing and energy provision.5 However, even in this area of strength, underlying pressures are visible.
The 2024 report had already highlighted acute housing crises in many top-ranked cities in Canada and Australia as a source of concern.9 These issues persist, creating affordability challenges and social strain that can indirectly impact stability, even if the headline infrastructure scores remain high.3
A World in Flux: Regional Analysis and Strategic Movers
The 2025 Global Liveability Index reveals a world of divergent paths, with some regions solidifying their dominance while facing new pressures, and others making rapid strategic gains.
4.1 Western Europe: Enduring Dominance Under Increasing Strain
Western Europe continues to be the world's most liveable region, a fact underscored by its heavy presence in the top ten, including the top spot and four of the top five positions.5
The region achieves the highest scores in four of the five liveability categories, surpassed only by North America in Education.5 However, this dominant position is showing signs of stress. The region's average score for Stability has fallen since 2024, reflecting a troubling rise in terrorism threats, politically motivated riots, and social tensions.4
The most dramatic examples of this trend are the cities of the United Kingdom. Following a period of significant civil unrest in 2024 linked to anti-immigrant sentiment, all UK cities surveyed saw their rankings fall. London dropped from 45th to 54th place, Manchester fell from 43rd to 52nd, and Edinburgh slid from 59th to 64th.2
This demonstrates that even in highly developed and historically stable nations, social cohesion is fragile and its erosion can have a swift and measurable impact on liveability.
4.2 North America: A Tale of Two Nations' Diverging Challenges
North America's overall liveability score slipped slightly in 2025, driven by distinct but equally concerning challenges in Canada and the United States.3 The region's performance highlights a critical divergence: Canada's primary challenge lies in the strain on its public services, while the United States' core problem is a deficit of social and political stability.
Canada's Crisis of Services: The most significant downward mover in the entire 2025 index among top-tier cities was Calgary, which plummeted from 5th place in 2024 to 18th this year.2 Toronto also fell, from 12th to 16th.2
This sharp decline is directly linked to lower scores in the Healthcare category for all four Canadian cities in the survey.2 The country's vaunted public healthcare model is under severe pressure from underfunding and staff shortages, leading to a tangible decline in the quality and accessibility of care.2
The United States' Stability Deficit: In contrast, US cities continue to be held back by poor performance in the Stability category. Not a single one of the 21 US metros analyzed made it into the top 20 globally.3 The most liveable US city is Honolulu, Hawaii, at a distant 23rd overall, followed by smaller or medium-sized cities like Atlanta (29th) and Pittsburgh (joint 30th).2
These cities consistently outperform megacities like New York (69th) and Los Angeles (57th), which suffer from even greater stability and infrastructure challenges.3 The EIU researchers are clear about the cause, citing high incidences of social unrest, deep-rooted racial inequalities, and the prevalence of violent crime linked to weak gun control laws.3
Interestingly, 14 US cities saw their rankings improve this year, with Miami, Portland, Indianapolis, and Charlotte each moving up three places.3 However, this should not be mistaken for genuine progress.
Analysts note that these cities were largely "promoted" because other cities around the world, particularly in Canada and the UK, experienced more significant drops.
The underlying diagnosis for the US remains negative, with chronic stability issues unsolved and EIU experts warning of potential future downgrades due to proposed public spending cuts on education and healthcare.3
Sources:.2 Note: Comprehensive 2025 score data for all listed cities was not available. "Lowered" indicates a decline from 2024 as noted in the source material.
4.3 Asia-Pacific: A Dynamic Region of Extremes
The Asia-Pacific region is characterized by its sheer diversity, hosting some of the world's most liveable cities alongside some of its most challenged.4 Australian cities perform exceptionally well, with Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide all placing in the top ten. New Zealand's Auckland and Japan's Osaka also secure elite status.2 However, the region is also on the front line of geopolitical risk.
As previously noted, stability scores for cities in India and Taiwan have been downgraded due to the heightened threat of military conflict.2 At the same time, some cities are showing marked improvement. Jakarta, Indonesia, for example, jumped 10 places in the rankings thanks to an improved stability score, reflecting progress in reducing the city's vulnerability to terrorism.
4.4 The Ascendant Middle East: A Case Study in Strategic Investment
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region registered the most significant gains in overall liveability in the 2025 index.6 This improvement is almost entirely driven by advancements in healthcare and education within Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
The standout performer globally is Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, which was the biggest mover up the ranks, climbing an impressive 13 places from 148th to 135th.2 This rapid ascent is a direct result of the kingdom's Vision 2030 plan, which is pouring vast resources into diversifying the economy and fundamentally upgrading social infrastructure. The trajectories of Canadian and Saudi Arabian cities present a fascinating contrast.
One represents a mature, high-quality public service model showing signs of decay under pressure, while the other represents a resource-rich, state-directed developmental model rapidly building its social infrastructure from a lower base. This raises critical questions for businesses about whether to invest in locations with high but potentially declining standards, or in those with lower but rapidly improving ones.
Strategic Imperatives: Liveability as a Corporate Asset in the 21st Century
The findings of the 2025 Global Liveability Index extend far beyond a simple ranking of pleasant places to live. For business leaders, policymakers, and human resources executives, the index has become an indispensable tool for strategic planning, risk management, and talent acquisition in a globalized world.
5.1 The "Talent Magnet" Effect: Winning the War for Global Talent
In an economic landscape increasingly defined by remote work and cross-border collaboration, the competition for elite talent is fierce. In this environment, a city's quality of life has transitioned from a "nice-to-have" perk to a decisive competitive advantage.7 Highly skilled professionals, who now have more choice than ever about where they live and work, are increasingly prioritizing factors beyond salary. The core metrics of liveability—public safety, reliable transportation, quality schooling for their children, and accessible healthcare—are now significant drivers of relocation decisions.7
A city like Copenhagen, with its strong social protections, green policies, and safe environment, can act as a powerful "talent magnet," drawing in ambitious global workers who might otherwise choose a traditional economic hub. For companies, understanding these preferences is key to building effective staffing strategies. The liveability index allows employers to predict and respond to employee desires, informing decisions about where to establish targeted hiring projects or new remote offices to attract the best and brightest.
5.2 A New Lens for Risk Assessment and Site Selection
The 2025 index demonstrates that liveability is now inextricably linked to corporate risk management. The increasing volatility of the Stability category, in particular, means the index now serves as a valuable early warning system for social and political instability that could directly impact business operations, supply chains, and investments.
A C-suite executive can now read the index not just to determine the best location for an expatriate assignment, but to gain a nuanced understanding of regional risk profiles. The declining stability scores in Western Europe due to social unrest, or the downgrades in Asia due to military tensions, are critical data points for any company with a global footprint.5
Conversely, the improving scores in the MENA region, driven by strategic government investment, may signal new opportunities for expansion into markets that are becoming more stable and well-serviced.6 The index provides a data-driven framework for making smarter, more resilient decisions about site selection for new offices, manufacturing facilities, and regional headquarters.
5.3 Navigating the Complexities of Global Mobility
The strategic dilemma for many multinational corporations is a growing disconnect between the world's most liveable cities and its largest economic centers. A company may be headquartered in London (54th) but find that the software engineer it wants to hire would prefer to live in Melbourne (4th). This gap creates significant logistical and administrative challenges.
International relocation is fraught with complexity, including the navigation of disparate work permit and visa regulations, convoluted international and local tax laws, and the need to draft employment contracts that comply with multiple legal frameworks.7 These bureaucratic hurdles can lead to costly delays, compliance risks, and a frustrating experience for the employee.
This is where strategic solutions like an Employer of Record (EOR) become invaluable. An EOR is a third-party organization that acts as the legal employer for staff in a foreign country, managing all aspects of payroll, benefits, taxes, and visa applications.7 This model allows a company to rapidly and compliantly hire talent in a high-liveability city like Zurich without needing to establish a costly and time-consuming local legal entity.
The rise of EORs is the market's direct response to the strategic dilemma highlighted by the liveability index, providing the agility needed to build a distributed global workforce that bridges the gap between talent preference and business necessity.
Concluding Analysis and Forward Outlook
The 2025 Global Liveability Index presents a world at a standstill, but one that is anything but static. The flat global average score of 76.1 masks a roiling dynamic of progress and decay, where improvements in public services are being nullified by the pervasive and growing threat of instability. Copenhagen's rise to the top, at the expense of Vienna, was not a story of improvement but of resilience—a powerful signal that in the current global climate, the perception of safety is the ultimate currency of liveability.
Looking ahead, Stability is poised to remain the most volatile and decisive category shaping the urban experience. The interconnected drivers of its decline—geopolitical conflict, social polarization, civil unrest, and economic precarity—are not fleeting issues but deep-seated structural challenges. EIU analysts express a pessimistic outlook, suggesting that the current pressures on stability are unlikely to ease in the near future, with ongoing conflicts and a record number of elections globally likely to fuel further polarization and unrest.11
The regional trajectories identified in this report are likely to continue. Western Europe will face an ongoing battle to defend its top-tier status against the corrosion of internal social and political strains. North America is at a critical juncture, facing a test of its fundamental social contract, manifested in the strain on Canada's healthcare system and the deep-seated stability issues in the United States. The upward path of the MENA region offers a compelling model of state-led development, but its long-term success will depend on the sustainability of its economic diversification and social reforms.
Finally, long-term threats loom on the horizon. Climate change, for instance, poses a significant risk to the "Environment" component of the index, with the EIU noting that recent floods in Jakarta serve as a stark warning for the future liveability of low-lying coastal cities.
Ultimately, the 2025 report redefines the ideal global city for the 21st century. It is no longer simply a city that is prosperous, cultured, and well-serviced. The ideal city of the future is one that is, above all, resilient. It must be a city capable of not only providing a high quality of life and world-class services but also of actively managing, mitigating, and absorbing the shocks of a profoundly unstable and unpredictable world.
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