Melbourne slips to world’s fourth most liveable city, but still top in Australia

The Victorian capital has again lost ground in the world’s most livable city rankings, having once taken out the top spot seven years running.

Melbourne has slipped to the world’s fourth-most liveable city in the latest rankings – a far cry from holding the crown for seven years in a row.

The Covid effect had pushed Melbourne down to 10th in 2022 but the city bounced back to third last year, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index.

This year the Austrian capital Vienna finished on top from Copenhagen in Denmark and Zurich in Switzerland. Calgary in Canada completed the top five.

The city by the Yarra is still Australia’s most liveable place, with Sydney coming in equal seventh, then Adelaide 11th, Perth 15th and Brisbane 16th.

The EIU index assesses 173 cities on five measures: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Melbourne was the world’s best from 2011 to 2017 until Vienna claimed the title.

One of the biggest fallers this year was Tel Aviv in Israel which fell more than any other city, down 20 places to 112th.

Damascus, the capital of Syria, was again ranked the least liveable city, while Kyiv also stayed in the bottom 10 as Ukraine war continues.