Latest news with #2025Index
Forbes
17-06-2025
- Health
- Forbes
The Best Cities To Live In, According To The Global Liveability Index
The release of the 2025 Global Liveability Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has seen a new city take the crown as the world's most liveable. After three years at the top of the rankings, Austria's capital Vienna has finally been usurped by Denmark's capital city, Copenhagen. Welcome to the world's best city to live in. Copenhagen achieved near perfect scores across the board. The EIU's annual index assesses 173 locations around the world, ranking their liveability based on a variety of indicators and criteria. This ranking attempts to quantify the challenges someone might face to their lifestyle in any of the given locations, to help assess which offer the best and worst living conditions. Each city is measured across 30+ qualitative and quantitative factors in five categories described as stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Qualitative factors are decided by a panel of expert EIU analysts and in-city contributors. Quantitative factors are based on the relative performance of a range of external data points. Each factor is then assigned a rating as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable. The EIU Index then assigns a score to each category, which are compiled and weighted to create an easy reference 1-100 score, where 1 is intolerable and 100 is ideal. Copenhagen has been crowned the world's most comfortable city to live in 2025, earning perfect scores for stability, education and infrastructure. Its overall Index score reached 98 of a possible 100. Although Vienna has lost the top spot, it remains one of the great cities to live in—or just to visit. It beats the longstanding leader, Vienna, into second place, although the Austrian capital also scored perfectly for education and infrastructure, as well as healthcare. Vienna shares second this year with Zurich, which ranked perfectly in both the education and healthcare categories. Another Swiss city, Geneva, ranked fifth overall, showcasing the dominance of Western European cities in the index with four of the top five positions. The only city to break that European grip is Melbourne in Australia, which takes fourth spot with an overall score of 97 out of 100. The Southern Hemisphere comes into its own for the remaining top ten places with Australia's Sydney and Adelaide in sixth and ninth places respectively, Osaka in Japan in seventh and Auckland in New Zealand in eighth. Just sneaking into the top is North America's sole representative, Vancouver. London remains the UK's most liveable city but has dropped out of the top 50 globally. While Western European cities dominate the Index, it's notable that all the UK cities covered—London, Manchester and Edinburgh—have dropped down the rankings and sit well outside the top ten. This is due to a combination of political instability and growing civil unrest that has impacted scores. In 2025, London dropped from 45th to 54th place, Manchester from 43rd to 52nd and Edinburgh from 59th to 64th. The reason for Vienna's fall from the top spot comes down to its declining stability score, impacted by a variety of factors including terrorism scares, one of which saw Taylor Swift's summer 2024 concert canceled. The 2025 Global Liveability Index Top 10 Deputy industry director at EIU, Barsali Bhattacharyya commented, 'Global liveability has remained flat over the past year, and as in 2024, scores for stability have declined at a global level. Pressure on stability has led Vienna to lose its position as the most liveable city after a three-year stint. As in 2024, stability scores have declined for western Europe and the Middle East and North Africa. In this edition, they have also declined for Asia, amid intensified threats of military conflict for cities in India and Taiwan.' While the average overall liveability score across the Index was consistent with 2024 at 76.1 out of 100, stability scores fell by 0.2 points overall. This comes amid huge global geopolitical tensions, civil unrest and a growing global housing crisis. Conversely, the Index has also seen overall gains in scores for healthcare, education and infrastructure. There have been some very notable movements both up and down the Index in 2025. Canadian cities in particular have suffered, with Calgary dropping from fifth place in 2024 to 18th place in 2025 after a marked drop in its healthcare score. This has impacted all four Canadian cities in the Index after the well-publicized strain on the country's healthcare system thanks to a shortage of staff, among other factors. Toronto saw its ranking drop from 12th to 16th. While those numbers don't look great, it's still important to look at them in context. Alongside the other 20 North America cities ranked, all reported the highest possible tier of liveability according to the Index's criteria, scoring above 80 out of 100. The highest U.S. city on the list was Honolulu in Hawaii, which ranked 23rd overall. Improvements in healthcare and education have seen Middle Eastern cities like Al Khobar great improve liveability scores. Moving up the Index, Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf saw the biggest leap, climbing 13 places from 148th to 135th thanks to improved healthcare and education. This reflects a trend across regions in the Middle East and North Africa, which saw the most significant global gains in overall liveability, largely driven by advancements in healthcare and education within cities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Propping up the Index once again is war torn Damascus in Syria, which has seen no improvement in its liveability score despite the fall of ex-president Bashar al-Assad and subsequent regime change in December 2024. While this should increase its potential for improvement dramatically, the legacy of a years-long civil war will realistically take years to recover from. Despite a regime change, years of civil war have left Damascus rooted to the bottom of the Global Liveability Index. This is reflected in the significant jump to the second and third worst ranked cities, Tripoli in Libya and Dhakar in Bangladesh.
Business Wire
05-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Insure.com's 2025 Mother's Day Index: Mom's Salary Hits $145,235
FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- a trusted source for expert insurance insights, has released its 15th annual Mother's Day Index, which finds that the unpaid work mothers typically perform at home would command an annual salary of $145,235 — a 4% increase from last year. What's a mom worth in 2025? According to Mother's Day Index, her unpaid work would earn $145K a year. Share 'Stay-at-home mothers juggle multiple jobs behind the scenes without compensation,' says Nupur Gambhir, a licensed life insurance agent and the managing editor at 'The Mother's Day Index is our way of recognizing some of the economic value of caregivers — their extraordinary workload would easily earn them six figures in the job market.' To compile the Mother's Day Index, the editorial team uses U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) wage information to assign an hourly rate to jobs primary caregivers typically perform around the home, such as cooking meals, helping with homework and providing emotional support. The team then estimates the number of hours each task requires and calculates an annual salary. Highlights from the 2025 Index show significant increases in compensation across several caregiving and household-related professions: Mental health counselors: 11% Community service specialists: 8% Laundry workers: 7% Bakers: 6% Gambhir is available for interviews about the Mother's Day Index or to answer consumer questions about life insurance. About is owned and operated by QuinStreet, Inc. (Nasdaq: QNST), a pioneer in delivering online marketplace solutions to match searchers with brands in digital media. QuinStreet is committed to providing consumers and businesses with the information and tools to research, find and select the products and brands that meet their needs. is a member of the company's expert research and publishing division. For 35 years, has served as a comprehensive consumer resource for insurance information, offering expert advice, articles, news, and tools about car, home, health, and life insurance. Consumers have access to free insurance quotes and guidance on finding the right insurance policy, saving money and solving claims problems.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tax season is hard enough. Inaccessible websites make it worse.
Many government and financial websites are still difficult to use for people with disabilities, especially during tax season. From confusing navigation to inaccessible forms and documents, these barriers make it hard to file taxes or manage finances independently. Tax season is often a source of stress and confusion—from navigating complicated forms to tracking down essential documents. For many Americans, the process has gone digital in recent years, with everything from tax filing to payment portals now hosted online. But for the millions of people with disabilities who rely on accessible technology to navigate the internet, tax season presents an added challenge: government and financial websites remain deeply inaccessible, making it difficult—and in some cases, impossible—to meet their financial obligations independently, AudioEye says. According to AudioEye's 2025 Digital Accessibility Index, the average government webpage contains 307 accessibility violations—one of the highest rates of any industry analyzed in the report. From unlabeled form fields to vague navigation links, these barriers can prevent users from applying for benefits, filing taxes, or accessing critical public services. Government websites frequently rely on images to convey information, including application instructions and service directories. Yet 15.3 images per page lacked alternative text (alt text), which allows people who are blind or have low vision to understand the content and purpose of images through screen readers. And with 77% of pages containing unclear links, navigating a site to find the correct tax form or deadline becomes a frustrating, if not impossible, task. "I use an online tax service, and navigating the platform is often slow and irksome," said Dave Carlson, a member of AudioEye's A11iance Community. "Not all modules work the same way, and it takes a lot of trial and error just to reach input fields and Continue buttons. After years of using it, I've figured out how to get through it—but it shouldn't be that hard." In addition to government portals, financial services websites—which host tools for direct deposits, tax refunds, and loan information—are also falling behind on accessibility. In fact, they were among the worst-performing sectors in the 2025 Index. AudioEye analyzed more than 57,000 pages across 1,500+ financial services sites and found that: 80% of pages included unclear or vague links, making it hard to locate key services like payment portals or transaction histories. The average page contained 74 violations of minimum color contrast requirements as outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), making forms and financial documents difficult to read for users with low vision. On average, there were 6.8 inaccessible forms per page—preventing users from opening accounts, transferring funds, or setting up automatic payments. "One of the biggest issues for me during tax season is getting my bank and credit card data in a usable format," Carlson continued. "Most institutions only offer PDFs, which are nearly impossible to navigate when dealing with large tables. I need spreadsheets, but getting them often means calling the institution and explaining the issue—year after year. Nothing changes, so I've just had to get smarter about workarounds." Website accessibility issues don't just create barriers for users—they also expose organizations to greater legal risk. With the Department of Justice gearing up to enforce updates to Title II of the ADA and stronger Section 508 compliance rules, both public agencies and private institutions will soon face more scrutiny regarding the accessibility of their websites. For organizations—both public and private—the takeaway is clear: Digital accessibility must be a priority. Here are a few ways to start: Audit and test regularly: Use a combination of automated scanning tools and expert testing by people with disabilities to identify and fix issues that lead to lawsuits. Prioritize accessibility in high-traffic areas: Focus on critical pages such as login portals, form submissions, and payment tools where users are most likely to encounter issues. Engage with the disability community: Invite users with disabilities to share feedback and participate in the design and QA process. Their lived experience offers insight that internal testing often misses. Fix the basics: Ensure every image has alt text, every form field has a clear label, and every link accurately describes where it goes. When essential services like tax filing, refund tracking, and benefit applications are out of reach, it creates unnecessary barriers to independence, privacy, and financial stability. Accessibility isn't just a feature to check off—it's a civil right. Achieving it requires more than automated scans or surface-level fixes. It demands a comprehensive, thoughtful approach that includes testing with real users, fixing issues at the source, and building digital experiences that work for everyone. This story was produced by AudioEye and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
Arab News
14-03-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia moves into top 4 among world's emerging markets
Saudi Arabia's massive logistics investment, sweeping digitization of trade, and sharp focus on quality-of-life improvements has pushed the country higher in the annual Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index. For 16 years, the index has been a benchmark of competitiveness for the world's 50 leading emerging markets countries, ranking them by factors important to logistics providers, freight forwarders, air and ocean carriers, distributors and investors. In the 2025 index, Saudi Arabia improves its performance relative to other countries in all four Index categories: international and domestic logistics opportunities, business climate, and digital readiness. The Kingdom ranks with China, India and United Arab Emirates at the top of the 2025 rankings. It finishes among the top five in all four Index categories. 'Saudi Arabia's desire to establish itself as a major global trade hub and innovation center are rapidly becoming a reality. 'The ambitious aims laid out in the Kingdom's Vision 2030 strategy have been matched by focused, effective policies and actions that are yielding change and progress across the economy, business and society,' says Agility vice chairman Tarek Sultan. The 2025 index singles out Saudi Arabia for efforts to strengthen supply chain networks, improve port connectivity, manage inflation, reduce corruption, improve digital skills, and develop a high-value manufacturing sector. In addition to the rankings, the index features a survey of 567 logistics industry professionals. More than 62 percent of those surveyed say they've overhauled their supply chains to safeguard against inflation, looming trade tariffs, the possibility of a global economic downturn and other major risks. The survey shows the logistics industry entering 2025 looking to protect itself from rising costs and a potential trade war ignited by expected US tariff hikes and a flood of exports from China. 'There is wariness and uncertainty among shippers, carriers, forwarders and others when it comes to the geopolitical factors that drive up costs, affect trade volumes, and alter supply chains,' Sultan said. 'Companies doing business internationally continue to shift production as they re-evaluate investment plans and search for durable paths to growth. Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Mexico and a handful of others are emerging as super-connectors for global trade.' The 2025 Index features an in-depth analysis of Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbors. Individually and as a group, the six GCC countries are positioning themselves as global trade centers, investing heavily in infrastructure, AI, energy transition, and workforce development. Despite increasing risk to global supply chains, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have become 'beacons of stability' and resilience, the Index concludes. Stability at the top of the 50-country rankings was accompanied by volatility and movement further down in the Index. China, India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, Qatar, Thailand and Vietnam rank 1 through 10. Colombia (No. 21) leaped up the rankings; as Nigeria (43), Bangladesh (39) and Ukraine (40) tumbled. The six Gulf countries all are among the top 11 for business conditions: UAE again tops the rankings for best business climate; Saudi Arabia is third and Qatar fifth. The countries most digitally ready are China, UAE, Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In international logistics opportunities, China, India, Mexico, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia rank highest. In domestic logistics, the leaders are China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and UAE. 2025 Index Highlights SURVEY COUNTRY RANKINGS Transport Intelligence, a leading analysis and research firm for the logistics industry, has compiled the Index since it was launched in 2009. John Manners-Bell, chief executive of Ti, said: 'Despite global economic headwinds and disruption to shipping lanes over the last year, the Gulf economies have proved exceptionally resilient. Diversification and their focus on investment in transport, the green energy transition, and other major infrastructure projects has laid the foundations for future growth. The improving security situation across the region will only act to accelerate their development as a bridge between emerging superpowers and the West.'
Zawya
10-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Oman ranks 58th in 2025 Economic Freedom Index
Muscat: Oman's economic freedom score has gone up from 62.9 to 65.4 making its economy the 58th freest in the 2025 Index of Economic Freedom. The index – released by American think tank The Heritage Foundation – evaluated 184 economies across the globe, assessing economic freedom based on 12 metrics categorised under four key policy areas: rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency and open markets. With its rating increasing by 2.5 points from last year, Oman is now ranked fifth out of 14 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The sultanate's economic freedom score is higher than the world and regional averages and its economy is considered 'moderately free' according to the 2025 Index. Oman scored highest (97.6) in the Tax Burden metric, followed by 82.5 in Monetary Freedom and 78.2 in Trade Freedom metrics among others. The energy sector has been the most important engine of growth in Oman's open economy. Tax rates are competitively low and foreign investment is generally welcome in many sectors. 'Recognising the importance of a more dynamic entrepreneurial environment, Oman has pursued modernisation and diversification of its economy. Fiscal consolidations have progressed with budget surpluses and a low debt level. Oman's sovereign credit rating has been upgraded to investment grade. The financial sector continues to evolve with commercial banks performing well,' the report stated. The sultanate achieved remarkable progress in the 2024 Index of Economic Freedom, rising 39 positions to rank 56th globally, a big climb from its 95th standing in 2023. In the Middle East and North Africa, the UAE leads at 23nd, followed by Qatar (27th), Bahrain (55th), Saudi Arabia (62nd) and Kuwait (88th), among others. Singapore continues to be the world's freest economy, demonstrating a consistently high level of economic resilience and prosperity. Switzerland is the world's second freest economy, followed by Ireland. Taiwan has maintained its fourth highest ranking, the highest the country has ever achieved in the index, while Luxembourg is fifth. Especially notable is the continuing decline of the United States, categorised as 'mostly free'. Its score plummeted to 70.2, one of the lowest levels in the history of the Index. The US is now the world's 26th freest economy. The 2025 report reveals a world economy that, taken as a whole, remains 'mostly unfree'. The global average economic freedom score has increased by 1.1 points to 59.7 from the previous year's 58.6. © Apex Press and Publishing Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
