At Time Out, we have a pretty good idea of where in the world is a good place to live. After all, we annually produce roundups of the best cities for transport, green space, walkability and general good vibes, making it easy to decipher where you might want to relocate based on what’s important to you.
But the Global Liveability Index is a handy tool at your disposal, too, and its overall liveability score is based on five major factors. They are stability (such as the threat of conflict or prevalence of petty crime); healthcare (availability of over-the-counter drugs, quality of public healthcare); culture and environment (temperatures, levels of censorship); education (availability and quality of private education) and infrastructure (quality of road networks, public transport and water provision).
In 2024, the crowning city was Vienna, but that has now been knocked off the top spot by none other than (drum roll, please!) Copenhagen. Shocked? No, neither are we.
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Copenhagen has been in the limelight of late, and for all the right reasons. It claimed a spot in the top 20 of the Global Cities Index published last month, and was also recently named the world’s happiest city.
But what makes Copenhagen so liveable? Well, it was beaten by its Austrian counterpart in the healthcare category, but scored perfectly in stability, education and infrastructure, garnering it a solid 98 out of 100 overall.
And the Danes are clearly proud of their happy, liveable culture. Back in November we reported that Copenhagen was offering people who moved there ‘life quality insurance’, which you can read all about here.
After Vienna in second place, Zurich, Melbourne and Geneva round out the top 10, with Europe claiming four places in the ranking, and Australia claiming three.
These are the 10 most liveable cities in the world
- Copenhagen
- Vienna
- Zurich
- Melbourne
- Geneva
- Sydney
- Osaka
- Auckland
- Adelaide
- Vancouver
Have a look at the very best cities in the world, according to Time Out.
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