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Whoever still thinks Canberra is lame might want to check the latest stats. Oxford Economics just released its 2026 Global Cities Index, and while Sydney and Melbourne slipped down the ranks, Canberra quietly climbed the ladder to claim the number one spot in the entire world for Quality of Life.
Seven Aussie cities cracked the overall top 100 in this year’s global index, which evaluates the 1,000 most populous cities across five categories: Economics, Human Capital, Quality of Life, Environment and Governance. However, Canberra was the only Australian city to improve its overall ranking compared to 2025.
The nation's capital finally cracked the top 50, climbing seven spots to land in 45th place globally. That puts Canberra right on the heels of Australia’s top-ranking cities, following Sydney (13th), Melbourne (16th), Brisbane (36th) and Perth (44th).
Canberra’s greatest strength was in the Quality of Life category, where it claimed the top spot worldwide, beating all other 999 cities evaluated for the second consecutive year. This victory is driven by low income inequality and high salaries, thanks to an abundance of stable, high-paying government jobs. Canberra also benefits from the second-highest level of GDP per person in Australia, alongside some of the world’s longest life expectancies.
To move up the overall rankings next year, Canberra will need to improve its Economics score (211th), with lower economic diversity and a smaller overall GDP size among the capital’s main weaknesses.
For comparison, Sydney landed in 17th place globally for Quality of Life, followed by Perth (38th), Melbourne (54th), Adelaide (59th), the Gold Coast (71st) and Brisbane (75th). You can check out the full Global Cities Index rankings here or see our summary below.
The 10 best cities in the world for quality of life in 2026:
- Canberra
- Bergen
- Singapore
- Grenoble
- Bern
- Oslo
- Luxembourg City
- Dresden
- Ghent
- Paris