Here are the 10 most livable cities in the world — and Europe dominates the list

For the third year in a row, Vienna, the capital of Austria, is the world's most livable city, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The annual report aims to show how comfortable or livable a city and examined 173 cities globally based on 30 indicators organized into five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Boosted by its perfect scores for stability, health care, education and infrastructure, Vienna led this year's list, followed closely by its Western European counterparts: Copenhagen, Denmark in second place and Zurich, Switzerland in third.

Vienna's overall score, although landing highest on the list, took a minor hit in the culture and environment categories, "owing to a lack of major sporting events," according to the EIU Global Liveability Index for 2024.

"EIU's Liveability Index has risen fractionally over the past year," the report said. "Declines in stability and infrastructure across a number of cities in advanced economies were offset by structural improvements in healthcare and education in several cities in developing markets."

Here are the 10 most livable cities in the world, according to EIU.

Four Asia-Pacific cities made it to this year's top 10: Australian cities Melbourne and Sydney, as well as Osaka, Japan and Auckland, New Zealand.

Melbourne, Sydney and Vancouver made the top 10 this year, but slipped "amid a significant shortfall in housing availability," the EIU said. For the same reason, Toronto fell to 12th place this year, after ranking among the top 10 in the previous two years.

Western Europe was the best-performing region for livability globally, scoring an overall 92 out of 100, however, it has dropped since last year due to an increase