Which City Is Ranked the Most Livable in the World?

Copenhagen Tops the List as the World's Most Livable City
Damascus, Syria Ranks Lowest

Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, has been ranked as the most livable city in the world. The British weekly The Economist announced this result based on the "World's Most Livable Cities 2025" index, compiled by its sister company, the EIU.

According to Yonhap News on June 17, Copenhagen scored 98.0 out of 100, placing first among 173 cities. The EIU stated that the survey for this index was conducted between April 14 and May 11, 2025.

On May 26, 2025 (local time), King Frederik and his family stand on the balcony of Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark, celebrating the King's 57th birthday. Photo by Reuters

Copenhagen was one of six cities to receive a perfect score in the "stability" category (weighted at 25%), and also achieved perfect scores in both "education" (10%) and "infrastructure" (20%).

However, the city lagged behind several others in the "healthcare" (20%) and "culture and environment" (25%) categories.

Vienna, the capital of Austria, which had held the top spot for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024, dropped to a tie for second place with a score of 97.1. This decline was influenced by a lower score in the "stability" category, following a bomb threat ahead of a Taylor Swift concert in August 2024 and the discovery of a terrorist plot targeting a train station in February 2025.

Zurich, Switzerland, also shared second place. Melbourne, Australia (97.0), Geneva, Switzerland (96.8), and Sydney, Australia (96.6) ranked fourth through sixth, respectively. Osaka, Japan, tied for seventh with Auckland, New Zealand, both scoring 96.0. Adelaide, Australia (95.9), and Vancouver, Canada (95.8), were also among the top ten.

Damascus, Syria, ranked last at 173rd with a score of 30.7. There was a significant gap between Damascus and Tripoli, Libya (40.1), which ranked 172nd, as well as Dhaka, Bangladesh (41.7), which ranked 171st.

Other cities at the bottom included Karachi, Pakistan (42.7), Algiers, Algeria (42.8), Lagos, Nigeria (43.5), Harare, Zimbabwe (43.8), Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (44.1), Kyiv, Ukraine (44.5), and Caracas, Venezuela (44.9).

By region, cities in Western Europe had the highest average scores, followed by North America and the Asia-Pacific region.