Budapest has slipped four places in the latest Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Global Liveability Index, ranking 36th out of 173 cities. While Copenhagen remains at the top, Asia is gaining ground and several Middle Eastern cities have suffered sharp falls amid worsening security conditions.
Copenhagen remains the world’s most liveable city
The overall picture of global liveability has not changed dramatically in 2026, but significant shifts are taking place beneath the surface. The EIU assessed 173 cities across 30 indicators, grouped into five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. The resulting score is measured on a 100-point scale.
The average score this year was 76.1 points, unchanged from 2025.
However, individual categories moved in different directions. The average stability score fell by another 0.5 points, while culture and environment also deteriorated slightly. Healthcare, meanwhile, improved by an average of 0.7 points, with smaller gains also recorded in education and infrastructure.
At the top of the ranking, Copenhagen retained first place, followed by Vienna and Melbourne.
The top 10 remains dominated by cities in wealthy, developed countries, with Australia, Canada, Japan and Switzerland all represented.
Asia is catching up with Europe
Western Europe remains the strongest-performing region overall, but it has stopped extending its lead. The region’s average liveability score remained broadly unchanged, while Asian cities continued to improve. As a result, nine Asian cities and seven European cities now feature among the world’s 20 most liveable cities.
The EIU attributed some of the progress made by Chinese cities to improvements in healthcare indicators. New York also recorded a stronger stability score, helped by declining crime figures in recent years and a lower perceived risk of a major terrorist attack, Pénzcentrum writes.
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Budapest falls four places
Budapest ranked 36th out of 173 cities, with a liveability score of 91 points. That represents a four-place drop compared with last year, while the Hungarian capital’s overall score declined by one point.
Budapest was therefore among the cities experiencing one of the more noticeable falls in the ranking. Its four-place drop was the same as those recorded by Luxembourg, Portland, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saipan, although their starting positions and scores differed considerably.
Despite the setback, 91 points remains a strong result.
For comparison, Zurich scored 96 points and ranked fifth, while Auckland and Luxembourg both scored 95 points, placing 12th and 15th respectively. Athens, meanwhile, ranked 88th with 78 points, meaning Budapest’s absolute liveability score remains considerably higher than that of the Greek capital.
The ranking does not simply measure how enjoyable a city is to live in. It also considers its stability, healthcare and education systems, cultural and environmental conditions and the quality of its infrastructure.
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Middle Eastern cities suffer major setbacks
The most dramatic deterioration in this year’s ranking was recorded in the Middle East. In previous years, stability scores had been particularly affected in Europe by the war in Ukraine, terrorist attacks and protests. In 2026, however, the focus shifted towards the Middle East.
According to the EIU, the war involving Iran that began in February, Israeli and US strikes on Iran and subsequent regional responses significantly damaged perceptions of security across the region. The 18 Middle Eastern and North African cities included in the index fell by more than three places on average.
Muscat experienced the sharpest decline, falling 14 places to 123rd, with a score of 68. Kuwait City dropped 12 places, Amman 11 and Manama 10. Doha fell seven places, while Tehran entered the 10 least liveable cities in the world.
For Budapest, the four-place fall is a setback, but the Hungarian capital remains firmly within the upper tier of the global rankings, despite losing ground compared with last year.
