Economist ranking: Auckland is the best place to live

Vienna is no longer the most liveable city in the world. Hamburg, Frankfurt and Berlin are also slipping. The pandemic has significantly reduced the attractiveness of European cities – but in some cases also depressed prices.

Auckland is the most livable city in the world. That comes from the new city ranking of the British business magazine “Economist”. Above all, the successful containment of the corona pandemic gave New Zealand’s largest city an advantage: theaters, restaurants and museums could remain open, children could continue to go to school – so Auckland scored highly in criteria such as education, culture and the environment. All of this helped Auckland move up six places and take the top spot.

Vienna falls out of the top ten

A position that a European city held for three years: Vienna was the most livable city in the world from 2018 to 2020, but this year it fell back to twelfth place. The decline of Vienna is exemplary for many European cities. According to the “Economist”, many European and Canadian cities fell behind in the ranking because they fought the pandemic waves primarily by restricting cultural and sporting events and closing schools and restaurants.

In contrast, residents of New Zealand and Australian cities were able to lead relatively normal lives – thanks to strict border controls and closings. Six of the top ten cities in the current ranking are in New Zealand or Australia, emphasizes the “Economist”. Only in seventh and eighth place came the first two European cities with the Swiss metropolises Zurich and Geneva.

Hamburg is the biggest relegation

In this context, it is also telling to take a look at the relegated countries: Hamburg, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf top the list of losers. The three German cities have lost the most places in the “Economist” ranking worldwide. Hamburg slipped by 34 places and is now only in 47th place. In total, eight European cities are among the ten largest relegators.

The experts of the “Economist Intelligence Unit” (EIU) not only recorded and compared the quality of life in cities around the world, but also the cost of living. The focus was on the prices for 200 goods and services.

Tel Aviv replaces Paris as the most expensive city

In this ranking, too, a European city has to reveal its top position. The Israeli coastal metropolis Tel Aviv is now the most expensive city in the world. It replaces the French capital Paris, which now ranks second with Singapore. It is followed by the Swiss financial center Zurich, ahead of Hong Kong and New York, according to the EIU data published today.

Compared to the ranking a year ago, Berlin slipped eight places down to 50th place, making it the cheapest of the six German cities included in the index. The most expensive is Frankfurt, which ranks 19th in an international comparison. According to the index, German motorists have a hard time in Hamburg in particular: The Hanseatic city ranks fifth among the cities with the highest gasoline prices of all recorded cities worldwide.