Copenhagen Named the World's Best City to Live in for 2026
The world appears to be changing at lightning speed, so it may be reassuring to know that some things remain the same when it comes to the most livable city.
Copenhagen retained the top spot on the annual list published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for the second consecutive year.
The Danish capital surpassed Vienna, the Austrian capital, which had held the top position for three consecutive years, marking the second year in a row that Vienna was dethroned in the annual ranking published on Tuesday.
The EIU, a sister organization to The Economist magazine, evaluated 173 cities worldwide based on several criteria, including education, stability, healthcare, infrastructure, and culture.
Copenhagen received perfect scores in three categories: stability, infrastructure, and education.
Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, was chosen as the best city in the world for quality of life in 2026.
Vancouver, which came in ninth place, was the only city in North America to make the list of the world’s top ten cities.
A spokesperson for the EIU explained that Copenhagen’s continued dominance is due to “a successful combination of excellent scores in stability and infrastructure, along with outstanding culture and environment, and high quality of public services.”
Zurich, Switzerland, which had shared second place with Vienna last year, dropped three positions, while Geneva, Switzerland, came in sixth. Osaka, Japan, maintained its seventh-place ranking, while Adelaide, Australia, came in eighth, and Tokyo ranked tenth.
The United Kingdom regained some of its standing after declining last year due to riots and unrest. Manchester led British cities for the second time, ranking 52nd, ahead of London, which came in 54th, and Edinburgh, which ranked 64th.
In contrast, the average score for Asia rose by 0.3 points to reach 73.9, largely due to improved healthcare ratings, particularly in Chinese cities such as Fuzhou, located in southeastern China, which advanced seven places to rank 93rd.
This improvement is attributed to the implementation of a new long-term care insurance system, as well as enhancements in the country’s healthcare services.
Anna Nichols, Sector Director at the EIU, stated that “the global average quality of life index remained unchanged compared to last year, as the decline in stability in the Middle East was offset by improvements in healthcare across Asia in the 173 cities included in the study.”
