Lagos, the bustling commercial hub of Nigeria, has been ranked as the fourth least livable city in the world, according to the recently released Global Liveability Index 2023 by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister organization of The Economist. The EIU evaluated 173 cities worldwide based on various factors, including healthcare, education, stability, infrastructure, and environment.
Lagos secured the 170th position in the rankings, while Algiers, the capital of Algeria, claimed the third least livable city spot (171). Tripoli, the capital of Libya, followed closely in the 172nd position as the second least livable city globally. Damascus, Syria, emerged as the worst-ranked city in terms of livability.
The report acknowledged that despite their low rankings, cities like Lagos and Algiers have shown some improvements in their healthcare and education systems. Both cities have benefited to some extent from increased global oil and gas prices, as they are energy-exporting nations. Additionally, a decline in COVID-19 cases has allowed for additional public funding for infrastructure and public services, although corruption remains an ongoing concern.
On the other end of the spectrum, for the second year in a row, Vienna, the capital of Austria, claimed the title of the world’s most liveable city. Vienna’s stability, cultural offerings, reliable infrastructure, and exceptional education and healthcare services contributed to its consistent top-ranking position. The city had briefly slipped from the top spot last year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Copenhagen in Denmark followed closely behind Vienna, while the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne secured the third and fourth positions, respectively. Vancouver (Canada), Zurich (Switzerland), Calgary (Canada), Geneva (Switzerland), Toronto (Canada), and Osaka (Japan) completed the top ten rankings.
The findings revealed that three Canadian cities featured among the top ten most liveable cities globally. While European cities fared well at the top of the list, they also accounted for the majority of cities that experienced significant drops in the rankings this year. London, the capital of the United Kingdom, slipped 12 places to 46th position, while Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, dropped 22 spots to 43rd position.
Furthermore, Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, fell to the 58th spot this year after ranking 35th in the 2022 survey. The report noted that these cities did not experience sharp declines in their index scores but failed to make substantial progress compared to many cities in Asia, which demonstrated significant advancements in the past year.
Overall, the average index score across the 172 cities evaluated (excluding Kyiv, Ukraine) reached a 15-year high of 76.2 out of 100. Healthcare scores showed the most improvement, followed by education, culture and entertainment, and infrastructure. While the world is gradually moving beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, stability scores declined due to various instances of civil unrest across the globe.
Western European cities faced a decline in rankings as instances of workers’ strikes and civil unrest affected their stability ratings, preventing them from matching the progress made by cities in Asia and the Middle East.
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