Faulty reasoning signals

• Confirmation Bias - 5.8% (66 hits)
• Anchoring Bias - 0%
• Availability Heuristic - 8.6% (98 hits)
• Representativeness Heuristic - 4.2% (48 hits)
• Hindsight Bias - 3.4% (39 hits)
• Overconfidence Bias - 14.5% (166 hits)
• Framing Effect - 7.3% (83 hits)
• Loss Aversion - 0%
• Status Quo Bias - 3.6% (41 hits)
• Sunk Cost Effect - 2.1% (24 hits)
• Optimism Bias - 0%
• Pessimism Bias - 11.7% (134 hits)

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The Best Cities To Live In The World In 2026—According To The Global Liveability Index

What are the best cities to live in the world?

Every year, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) sets out to answer that question with its annual Global Liveability Index, which has just been released.

The 2026 edition evaluates 173 cities using more than 30 indicators across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

Each city receives an overall score out of 100 and is then ranked from most to least liveable.

One reason the Global Liveability Index has become one of the world’s most closely watched quality-of-life rankings is its consistency for more than 20 years, according to Ana Nicholls, the EIU’s director of industry analysis.

“We have kept the methodology consistent, while incorporating improvements that reflect the better availability of data on issues such as climate or the introduction of new technologies,” Nicholls told me in an interview.

“The index has been produced in its current form for more than two decades, allowing researchers to track long-term trends in how cities evolve.”

For the second consecutive year, Copenhagen, Denmark has been named the world’s most liveable city.

Since I began covering the EIU’s Global Liveability Index in 2022, the Danish capital has steadily climbed the rankings.

Copenhagen placed second in both 2023 and 2024 before overtaking Vienna, Austria in 2025 to grab the No. 1 spot.

Vienna remains in second place, with a score of 97.1.

According to the EIU, Copenhagen earned an overall score of 98.

It has perfect scores of 100 in stability, education and infrastructure.

The city’s score for healthcare is 96.

Culture and environment is 95.

“Copenhagen’s continued dominance at the top this year comes down to consistency across the board rather than a single standout strength,” says Nicholls.

“It posted perfect scores in three categories and above 95 in the other two, reflecting a rare combination of stability, top-tier infrastructure, strong culture and environment credentials, and excellent public services.”

The top 10 is once again dominated by cities in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Australia claims three spots in the top 10: Melbourne (No.

3), Sydney (No. 4) and Adelaide (No.

8).

Switzerland places two cities, including Zurich (No. 5) and Geneva (No.

6).

Coincidentally, Switzerland was named the best country to move to in another recent report.

Japan also lands two cities in the top 10: Osaka (No. 7) and Tokyo (No.

10).

Vancouver (No. 9) is the only North American city to crack the global top 10.

No American city is in the global top 10 this year, but Honolulu—the top-ranking U.S. city in 2025—is the highest-ranked U.S. city once again, scoring 93.2.

The second highest ranking U.S. city is Atlanta (with a score of 92.3), followed by Pittsburgh (92.1), Seattle (91.8) and Washington D.C.

(91.2).

The biggest American story, however, is New York City.

The city climbs three places from No. 69 in 2025 to No. 66 this year after recording one of the largest score improvements of any city in this year’s rankings.

According to the EIU, New York’s gains come entirely from the stability category, reflecting years of declining crime rates and lower perceived risks of terrorist attacks.

Although the overall global score (76.1) remains unchanged from 2024 and 2025, the forces shaping liveability are evolving.

Healthcare is the biggest bright spot in this year’s rankings.

Chinese cities have higher healthcare scores following years of investment and improvements to medical infrastructure.

Those gains helped make Asia the world’s most improved region.

Nine Asian cities now appear in the global top 20, and the region’s overall score has risen by 0.3 points to 73.9.

Western Europe is the world’s best-performing region, with an overall average score of 91.7, but Nicholls was surprised by one development in that region.

“I was also slightly surprised by the fall in culture and environment scores in some European cities, including Zurich, Geneva and Luxembourg, which seems to reflect the impact of higher prices and strong currencies on tourism demand in these cities,” says Nicholls.

On the other hand, global stability has deteriorated.

Last year, Europe saw many of the biggest declines because of terrorist threats and civil unrest.

This year, stability scores declined throughout the Middle East, due to the Iran War.

On average, cities in the Middle East and North Africa fell by more than three places in the rankings.

Nicholls says that the EIU was “marginally surprised by how much the Iran war had affected liveability in some cities, particularly Muscat (Oman) and Kuwait City, although of course we had expected some deterioration.”

The biggest upward mover this year is Fuzhou, China, which climbed seven places to No. 93 after improvements to healthcare.

Several other Chinese cities climbed four points, including Wuxi (up to No.

106), Nanjing (No.

98), Qingdao (No.

114), Dalian and Guangzhou, also moved higher as healthcare scores improved nationwide.

Lisbon also posted one of the biggest gains, rising six points to No.

54.

The biggest declines occurred in the Middle East.

Muscat, Oman, dropped 14 places, making it this year’s largest faller, while Kuwait City slipped 12 places.

The EIU attributes much of the regional decline to instability stemming from the Iran war.

At the bottom of the rankings, Damascus, Syria, comes in at No. 173, making it the world’s least liveable city with an overall score of 31.6.

It’s followed by Tripoli, Libya (No. 172) with a score of 40.9 and Dhaka, Bangladesh (No. 171) with a score of 41.7.

What could reshape the rankings in 2027?

According to Nicholls, geopolitical instability is likely to remain one of the biggest forces shaping future rankings.

"The economic fallout from the Iran war energy shock will likely ripple into 2027, straining household budgets, lowering culture scores as hospitality sectors shrink, and risking public protests that damage stability metrics," says Nicholls.

She also points to broader economic and environmental pressures.

Accelerating inflation and higher global interest rates could make large-scale infrastructure projects more expensive, forcing cities to delay improvements.

At the same time, escalating climate change risks, from rising temperatures to more severe storms, droughts and flooding, will increasingly strain city governments and could ultimately affect future liveability scores.

Read on for the ranking of the 10 best cities to live in the world in 2026.

Ranked: The 10 Best Cities To Live In The World

1.

Copenhagen, Denmark

2.

Vienna, Austria

3.

Melbourne, Australia

4.

Sydney, Australia

5.

Zurich, Switzerland

6.

Geneva, Switzerland

7.

Osaka, Japan

8.

Adelaide, Australia

9.

Vancouver, Canada

10.

Tokyo, Japan

Ranked: The 5 Best Cities To Live In The U.S.

1.

Honolulu

2.

Atlanta

3.

Pittsburgh

4.

Seattle

5.

Washington D.C.

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