A REPORT BY THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT > The Global Liveability Index 2021

The impact of a global pandemic on the world is still being felt.

But which cities dealt with it the best and where does yours rank?
The Liveability Index examines 140 cities worldwide to quantify the challenges presented to an individual’s lifestyle in the past year, for the first time taking into account this disrupting global event.

Originally designed as a tool to help companies assign hardship allowances as part of expatriate relocation packages, the EIU’s index rates living conditions in 140 cities based on more than 30 factors, which are grouped into five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. This year it also incorporates new indicators related to covid-19, which assess how each city has coped with increased demand on health-care facilities and with closures or capacity limits for schools, restaurants and cultural venues.

(Because there were few differences between cities in these categories before the pandemic, the new numbers can still be compared fairly with 2019’s.)

The looser a city’s lockdown rules, the better it scores in the categories related to openness.

However, if such laissez-faire policies allow covid-19 to run rampant, the worse such a city will do in the “stress on health-care resources” measure. The best performers thus combine generous freedoms with few severe cases of covid-19.

Each city is assigned a liveability score for more than 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Download free summary report  

2021 Index highlights

This year, Auckland in New Zealand rose to the top of the index owing to its successful approach in containing the covid-19 pandemic. Its society largely remained open and the city scored strongly on a number of metrics including education, culture and environment. Read our free summary of the entire index, including the top ten most and least liveable cities.

2021 Liveability ranking and overview

Complete overview of the challenges to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide. View The EIU’s liveability ranking and average scores for all cities across five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

survey and city profiles

Global Liveability Survey

The liveability survey quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide and provides a profile for each city. Appraise each city within the survey through its individual city profile and review regional trends.

liveability dataset

Global Liveability Matrix

Dataset ranking the challenges to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide. Build your own models with this dataset and evaluate key trends that might affect the development of cities in the future.

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