This is the world's most livable city in 2026
What's the story
Copenhagen has been named the world's most livable city for 2026, according to the latest annual ranking by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). This is the second consecutive year that the Danish capital has topped the list, beating Vienna, which had a three-year reign at the top. The EIU evaluated 173 cities globally on factors such as education, stability, healthcare, infrastructure, and culture.
Top performer
Melbourne rises to 3rd spot
Copenhagen scored "perfect" in three categories, stability, infrastructure, and education. A spokesperson from the EIU attributed the city's success to a "winning combination of excellent scores in stability and infrastructure, great culture and environment and high quality of public services." The ranking also saw Australia's Melbourne moving up one spot to third place while another Australian city Sydney jumped from sixth to fourth place.
US cities
NYC improves to 66th position
In the latest rankings, New York City improved its position by three places to 66th. The improvement was mainly due to a significant rise in stability scores, owing to declining crime rates and lower perceived risks of terrorist attacks. Despite falling two spots to 25th position, Honolulu remains the highest-ranked US city overall. Vancouver was the only North American city that made it into the global top 10 at ninth position.
Regional impact
Manchester top UK city
The ongoing war with Iran has affected the rankings of cities in the Gulf region, with stability scores taking a hit. Muscat, the capital of Oman, fell 14 places to 123rd position while Kuwait City dropped 12 spots to 105th. Manchester emerged as the UK's highest-ranked city for the second time at 52nd place, followed closely by London and Edinburgh at 54th and 64th positions, respectively.
Regional scores
Asia's average score rises
Western Europe remains the most livable region, but its average score of 91.7 is lower than last year's. Meanwhile, Asia's average score rose by 0.3 to 73.9, thanks to improved healthcare scores in Chinese cities like Fuzhou which climbed seven places to 93rd position. Damascus in Syria remains the least livable city globally, while Tehran dropped to 164th place due to war-related impacts on stability and healthcare provision.