Australian cities slip down global liveability rankings due to housing dramas

Australian cities have become less attractive destinations in which to live and work, according to the latest annual global liveability rankings.

Sydney and Melbourne have entrenched themselves in the top ten for the second successive year but both lowered their colours to the European cities occupying the top three spots.

Melbourne slipped from third to fourth in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index 2024 released on Thursday (27 June) but still managed to top the list among cities in the Asia Pacific region.

The EIU assesses which locations around the world provide the best or worst living conditions, and factors in conditions such as healthcare, cultural events, educational opportunities, infrastructure and the environment.

Sydney slid from fourth in 2023 to seventh this year. Just outside the top ten were Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.

Adelaide was the only Australian city to improve its ranking, inching up from equal 12th to 11th. Perth in 2023 was the biggest improver on the list of 173 cities but failed to match that this year, dropping from equal 12th to 15th.

Brisbane media last year bleated that they were robbed, but their position at 16 on the list is unchanged a year later.

Vienna, Austria, retained its position at the top of index for the third year running.

Overall, the average score across the 173 cities in the survey increased marginally to 76.1 out of 100, but the improvement was held back by geopolitical conflicts, civil unrest and a housing crisis across many of the assessed cities.

Having the five largest Australian state capital cities in the top 20 is commendable but the broad decline was attributed to one significant factor.

The housing crisis and soaring rents dented the infrastructure score of the cities descended the rankings.

“Although still towards the top of our ranking, both of the leading Australian cities (Sydney and Melbourne) have slipped down amid a significant shortfall in housing availability and for similar reasons, Toronto (Canada) has dropped out of the top ten (to 12th position) after two years,” the EIU report noted.

Meanwhile, the cost-of-living crisis drags on in many countries, with housing costs emerging as one of the stickiest elements of inflation.

“The situation is particularly worrying in Australia and Canada, where the availability of rental properties is at an all-time low and purchase prices have continued to rise despite interest-rate increases, further fuelling anti-immigration sentiment,” the report stated.

Western Europe remains the best-performing region for liveability, coming top in four categories, while second-placed North America is best for education.

Although both of these regions have seen their average scores slip since last year, all five of the other regions have seen their average scores rise.

Third-placed Asia-Pacific has seen only a marginal improvement, while fourth-placed eastern Europe saw the biggest jump on the back of improvements in healthcare and education.

Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Sub-Saharan Africa also received higher scores for healthcare and education. The last of these, however, remains the least liveable region in the world.

The biggest improvement since last year was in Hong Kong. Its ranking has jumped from 61st to 50th, on the back of improvements in its scores for stability and healthcare. Other Asian cities, including Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Bangalore, saw their healthcare or education indicators improve this year, pushing them up the rankings.

While most Australian cities will bemoan their lower rankings, inhabitants should console themselves that they are not making a living in the cities at the bottom of the list.

The bottom of the liveability rankings is dominated by cities from Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East/North Africa (MENA). Damascus, Syria, is still rated as the least comfortable city in the in which to world to live.

Disconcertingly, none of the bottom four cities has seen any improvement in its overall score since last year.

Tel Aviv (Israel) registered the biggest fall down the rankings this year, tumbling from 92nd to 112th as its scores for stability, culture and environment, and infrastructure deteriorated.