Budapest ranks low in 2025 Happy City Index, tied with Wuhan
The Institute for Quality of Life has once again compiled its list of the world’s happiest cities—now for the sixth time—using 82 different indicators. Budapest made the cut in this global ranking.
Happy City Index 2025 results
The parameters were grouped into six main categories: citizen engagement, governance, environment, health, economy, and mobility. These are combined to determine which cities offer the highest quality of life.
Copenhagen claimed the top spot with 1,039 points, thanks to its Scandinavian “hygge” lifestyle, strong education system, innovation, and active civic participation. Zürich came in second, followed by Singapore in third. The top ten is dominated by cities in Northern and Western Europe and Asia:
- Copenhagen
- Zürich
- Singapore
- Aarhus
- Antwerp
- Seoul
- Stockholm
- Taipei
- Munich
- Rotterdam
Budapest’s regional performance
According to the 2025 Happy City Index, Budapest ranked 110th among the world’s happiest cities, tying with Wuhan, China—known as the original epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hungarian capital scored 700 points, indicating that while there’s room for improvement, it holds a respectable position globally.
Budapest outranked several other major cities, including Rome (116th), Malmö (tied with Rome at 116th), Istanbul (127th), Boston (131st), Leipzig (144th), and Prague (153rd). In the Central European region, Vienna performed best, landing in 12th place with 918 points, while Ljubljana came in 41st. Another Hungarian city, Debrecen, also appeared on the list, ranking 145th.
Where Budapest fell short
Detailed scores reveal Budapest’s greatest strength lies in mobility, where it would rank fourth globally—surpassing even Copenhagen and Vienna. This likely reflects the city’s extensive and versatile public transportation network.
However, in the health category, Budapest performed poorly, earning just 58 points. In comparison, the Austrian city of Linz topped this category with 177 points. This highlights a clear area for development in the Hungarian capital.
According to the Happy City Index 2025, Budapest hasn’t broken into the ranks of the world’s happiest cities, but it stands out for its mobility and outperforms many other major urban centres. Copenhagen remains at the top, serving as a model for the Scandinavian lifestyle and urban well-being. Budapest’s results may encourage city leadership to focus on improving health and other quality-of-life metrics moving forward.
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Based on the opinion of the article’s author, how can Budapest city improve health when the health’s responsibility is driven by the national government? Is the author suggesting that Budapest should get the tax budget for health and drive the health department? Not a bad idea..
These lists are such nonsense, it’s just comical. You can draw cities’ names from a hat and come up with a more accurate ranking.
I don’t know what this initiative is supposed to measure but “happiness” it ain’t.
Michael let me tell you a story. My wife and I went to a club in Budapest. My wife goes to use the ladies room and one young woman starts talking her saying “Life in Hungary is crap. All I want to do is just leave as soon as I can”. My wife’s impression was that there are women there who just want to hook up with a foreigner who will take them away. My cousin from Kenderes who left the country years ago said the only thing you have in the village is hard work for low pay and the kocsma. Our other family member studying in Vienna says there is no way he will go back to Hungary when he finishes his degree because the pay in Austria is three times as much in Hungary and the prices are the same. To make a living in Hungary, to work for a living gets more difficult every year except for the Fidesz connected elite who get special deals through the party.