Only four countries managed to get cities ranked in the top 10 as island nations like New Zealand, Australia and Japan fared best.
The Austrian capital had led the list since 2018 and for years ran neck and neck with Melbourne at the top of the survey of 140 urban centres. New Zealand's reduction of Covid-19 within its borders through lockdown measures helped by its geographic isolation, however, gave its cities a big boost.
"New Zealand's tough lockdown allowed their society to reopen and enabled citizens of cities like Auckland and Wellington to enjoy a lifestyle that looked similar to pre-pandemic life," the EIU said in a statement.
The EIU generally does not make the full ranking public. The last time Auckland was in the top 10 was in 2017, when it came eighth, a position Melbourne shared with Geneva this year. Vienna fell to 12th.
Illustrating New Zealand's advantage this year, Wellington also entered the top 10. It came fourth behind Osaka, which rose two spots to second place, and Adelaide, which leapfrogged its compatriots Sydney and Melbourne to third place from 10th.
The latest ranking is from 2019 as last year's was cancelled.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on global liveability," the EIU said.
"Cities across the world are now much less liveable than they were before the pandemic began, and we've seen that regions such as Europe have been hit particularly hard."
The European Union struggled to get its vaccination campaign off the ground and many member states including Austria imposed more lockdowns than they had hoped to, hurting their cities' scores in the measure of 'culture and environment'. The four other categories assessed are stability, healthcare, education and infrastructure.
10 most liveable cities in the world
1. Auckland, New Zealand, Index 96
2. Osaka, Japan, Index 94.2
3. Adelaide, Australia, Index 94
4. Wellington, New Zealand, Index 93.7
5. Tokyo, Japan, Index 93.7
6. Perth, Australia, Index 93.3
7. Zurich, Switzerland, Index 92.8
8. Geneva, Switzerland, Index 92.5
9. Melbourne, Australia, Index 92.5
10. Brisbane, Australia, Index 92.4
Related Stories
Comments
For the rich maybe. You can't live there if you can't afford shelter over your head so how is that liveable? Obviously the study didn't take affordability into account at all it seems.
This is a joke, as the Economist Intelligence Unit rating is all about livable for the rich business person and not for normal people.