Global Liveability Index 2026 Explained: Where Indian Cities Rank

​The Economist Intelligence Unit released the Global Liveability Index on July 8, 2026. Indian cities that have made it to the list include Delhi at 120, Mumbai at 121, Chennai at 123, and Bengaluru at 127. No Indian city is in the top 100.

​Liveability parameters are assessed using 30 indicators across 5 categories: stability (25 per cent), healthcare (20 per cent), culture and environment (25 per cent), education (10 per cent), and infrastructure (20 per cent). Each indicator, in turn, has five parameters: acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable, or intolerable. The ratings are then given on a scale of 1 to 100 for each city. Cities are then ranked against all 173 cities in the Index.

​The Best And Worst Places To Live

The cities that have made it to the top five are Copenhagen, Vienna, Melbourne, Sydney, and Zurich. The bottom five are Algiers at 169, followed by Karachi, Dhaka, Tripoli, and, last on the list, Damascus.

​Common features of the top five cities are outstanding education, walkable cities, greater availability of healthy food options, and a generally good outdoor lifestyle. The bottom five lag in infrastructure, with rapid urbanisation and traffic constraints, frequent wars and civil unrest, and public health care facilities. All five also share a history of colonisation.

​Why Indian Cities Continue To Lag

​India’s position has not improved significantly over the past few years. Reasons include environmental and pollution crises, overburdened public healthcare, unplanned urbanisation, and so on. Despite a national rhetoric of development, India performs poorly in these global indices.

​Many criticise the crude quantification of materialistic parameters that obscures questions of affordability, sustainability, and inclusivity. Yet one cannot ignore the explosive growth of the urban population, which affects every parameter considered. The severe degradation of environmental resources to cater to people and industries is having a widespread impact. People-centric, mixed-use development is considered the need of the hour.

​What Does Liveability Mean For Tourism?

​In the special issue "Urban Environmental Management and Urban Health Issues: What Sustainable and Livable Cities Look Like?", researchers found that developed tourist cities do not exactly correspond to cities with high liveability ratings. Liveability satisfaction consequently varied according to residents’ age, education level, annual household income, and other social and economic conditions, and was not a single homogeneous factor.

​The relationship between liveability and tourism is considered both symbiotic and strained. It can promote a virtuous cycle of development and revenue generation, but it can also lead to overtourism, affecting liveability.

​India is a witness to both. With 9.02 million foreign visitors to India in 2025, tourism remains an important driver of urban economies. Yet the Global Liveability Index serves as a reminder that attracting visitors is only one part of the equation. The greater challenge lies in building cities that are not only appealing to tourists but also healthy, resilient, and conducive to everyday living.

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