Melbourne named world's most liveable city for sixth year running

Melbourne has been named the world’s most liveable city in The Economist‘s annual Liveability Index for the sixth year in a row. 

With an overall score of 97.5 out of 100, Melbourne beat Vienna, Vancouver and Toronto to retain its crown.

Three Australian cities made the top 10 list, with Adelaide tying for 5th place and Perth coming in a number seven.

Sydney failed to make the top 10 for the first time since 2007.

The Global Liveability Ranking quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Melbourne scored top marks across all segments, particularly in education, infrastructure and healthcare.

Damascus, the capital of war-torn Syria, was named the world’s least liveable city in The Economist‘s index, just below Tripoli, in Libya.

Doyle says the title is not something Melburnians take for granted. Picture: Getty Images

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Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle says the title is something all Melburnians should be proud of.

“We do not take this title for granted and are constantly planning and implementing policies that will continue to improve our quality of life.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was also quick to express some city pride:

That's 6 in a row. #Melbourne is, once again, the world's most liveable city. #springst #liveability16

— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) August 17, 2016

World’s top 10 most liveable cities

1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
5. Adelaide, Australia
7. Perth, Australia
8. Auckland, New Zealand
9. Helsinki, Finland
10. Hamburg, Germany

While Melburnians can be safe in the knowledge that they continue to live in the best conditions in the world, liveability in more than 20% of the cities surveyed plummeted.

“Although the top five cities remain unchanged, the past year has seen increasing instability across the world, causing volatility in the scores of many cities,” the Economist says in the report.

“Sydney, for example, has fallen by four places, to move out of the ten most liveable cities, owing to a heightened perceived threat of terrorism.”

Although Sydney did drop out of the top 10, Adelaide shared joint fifth place with Calgary, Canada, and Perth was ranked at number seven.

Adelaide and Perth both received perfect scores for education. Perth got another 100 for infrastructure, while Adelaide also excelled in stability.