NZ cities retain top-20 ranking on world's 'most liveable' list
Auckland and Wellington have both maintained their positions in the recently released list of the top 20 most liveable cities in the world for 2025.
The City of Sails has again shared its seventh-placed equal ranking with Osaka, Japan, up two places from ninth equal last year.
Our capital city Wellington stayed the same, coming in at 20th place.
Both cities had recently been ranked highly by the annual index by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Wellington on one of those "good days". (Source: Getty)
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Auckland was ranked the world's most liveable city and Wellington was ranked fourth in the 2021 index.
Across the ditch, Melbourne came in at fourth place while Sydney came in at sixth.
Perth and Brisbane were ranked 15th and 16th respectively.
The Danish capital of Copenhagen dethroned the Austrian capital of Vienna for the number one spot, ending a three-year reign.
Christopher Luxon is expected to travel to Sydney to meet with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday. (Source: Getty)
The index, created by the Economist Intelligence Unit, rated 173 cities worldwide on factors such as stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
Damascus, Syria remained the least liveable city in the world.
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"Despite last year's regime change, Syria's capital city continues to be scarred by years of civil war and has seen no improvement in liveability," wrote the authors of the report.
The top 20 most liveable cities
1. Copenhagen, Denmark
2. Vienna, Austria (tie)
2. Zurich, Switzerland (tie)
4. Melbourne, Australia
5. Geneva, Switzerland
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6. Sydney, Australia
7. Osaka, Japan (tie)
7. Auckland, New Zealand (tie)
9. Adelaide, Australia
10. Vancouver, Canada
11. Luxembourg
12. Toronto, Canada
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13. Helsinki, Finland
14. Tokyo, Japan
15. Perth, Australia
16. Brisbane, Australia
17. Frankfurt, Germany
18. Calgary, Canada
19. Amsterdam, Netherlands
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20. Wellington, New Zealand.
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