As well as Vienna in poll position, three other European cities made the top 10 in a year when global instability and cost of living weighed heavily. There are many superlatives you could use to describe Vienna; beautiful, historic, picturesque, cultured. Now, you can add another to the list: consistent.
For the third consecutive year, the Austrian capital has been crowned the most liveable city in the world out of the 173 listed in The Economist’s annual Global Liveability Index. The city’s grip on the top spot seems unassailable, with 2024 marking the ninth occasion out of the last 11 index reports it has taken the top spot. With perfect scores in four out of the five categories this year, it was by no means a clean sweep for Vienna, but given its continued dominance, its citizens seem to have written the book on how to live well.
Much of this year’s top 10 remains largely unchanged from 2023, though there has been a change in fortunes for one or two cities which have either risen higher in the rankings or slid back. One noticeable change is the dominance of western European cities in particular, taking both the top three places and having four spots in the total at the top of the table. Liveability is a subjective concept and of course, The Economist’s Global Liveability Index is not infallible.
However, scores are determined by a set of benchmarks. Each city’s overall ranking is determined by averaging scores out of 100 in five different categories: stability, c.