The Australian underdog chasing Melbourne and Sydney in the world's most liveable city rankings
Australia has proven time and time again that it's more than just a pretty island. Last month, our nation's two largest cities ranked among the top ten in the prestigious 2025 Global Cities Index. Now, they've done it again in the equally respected Global Liveability Index – with a third, slightly surprising Aussie capital creeping up the ranks too.
For more than two decades, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released its Global Liveability Index, ranking 173 cities across five key metrics: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. The 2025 rankings have just dropped, with Copenhagen overtaking Vienna after a three-year reign to take the title of the world's most liveable city. Coming just behind Zürich in fourth place is Melbourne, which retained its 2024 ranking with an overall score of 97 out of 100. That's well above this year's global average liveability score of 76.1.
Once upon a time, Melbourne ruled the Global Liveability Index – named the world's most liveable city for a remarkable seven years straight. While it dropped to eighth place in 2021 and tenth in 2022, the Victorian capital has bounced back, holding steady in the top five globally for the past three years and proudly claiming Australia's number one spot.
Sydney also held onto its overall liveability score of 96.6, but overtook Calgary, jumping from seventh place in 2024 to sixth in 2025. Both Melbourne and Sydney matched perfect scores for healthcare and education (100 each), also scoring strong marks for stability (95) and infrastructure (96.4). But Melbourne pulled ahead in the culture and environment category, scoring 95.8 to Sydney's 94.4.
In 2025, one more Australian city quietly crept into the top ten – and that was Adelaide in ninth place with an overall liveability score of 95.9. That's a huge leap from the city's 11th place ranking in 2024 and an even bigger jump from 30th place in 2022. Adelaide shares the same ratings as Melbourne and Sydney across all categories except culture and environment, where it scores a solid 91.4. Could this rising star outshine Australia's biggest cities on next year's Global Liveability Index? We'll have to wait and see.
Here are the world's 10 most liveable cities
Copenhagen, Denmark
Vienna, Austria
Zürich, Switzerland
Melbourne, Australia
Geneva, Switzerland
Sydney, Australia
Osaka, Japan
Auckland, New Zealand
Adelaide, Australia
Vancouver, Canada
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