Everyone wants to live in a safe, clean, and comfortable city. To find out which cities offer the best quality of life, a research group called the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) recently released its Global Liveability Index for 2026. This report grades 173 cities around the world.
Unfortunately, the results are a wake-up call for India: Not a single Indian city made it into the top 100.
The Best and Worst Cities in the World
The report found that the best place to live right now is Copenhagen, a city in Denmark, which scored an almost perfect 98 out of 100 points. Vienna (Austria) took second place, and Melbourne (Australia) came in third.
On the other hand, cities facing severe wars, poverty, or political trouble ended up at the very bottom:
Damascus, Syria: Ranked last at 173 (score of 32)
Tripoli, Libya: Ranked 172 (score of 41)
Dhaka, Bangladesh: Ranked 171 (score of 42)
Cities in the Middle East, like Tehran in Iran, also fell to the bottom of the list because of ongoing conflicts in the region.
How Does the Report Grade a City?
The researchers do not just look at how rich a city is; they look at what everyday life is like for the people living there. They give each city a score out of 100 based on five main areas:
Safety and Peace (25%): Is the city safe from crime, riots, and wars?
Culture and Environment (25%): Is the weather nice? Are there fun things to do? Is the city free from heavy corruption?
Healthcare (20%): Are there good hospitals, doctors, and medicines available for the public?
Basic Needs (20%): Are the roads good? Is there clean drinking water, reliable electricity, and good public buses or trains?
Education (10%): Are there high-quality schools and colleges?
Where Do Indian Cities Rank?
India’s best-performing city is New Delhi, but it is way down the list at number 120. Its overall score was just 48.1 out of 100, which is far below the world average of 76.1. When looking at the five categories, New Delhi lost the most points in “Culture and Environment.”
Other famous Indian cities also scored poorly:
Mumbai: Ranked 121
Chennai: Ranked 123
Bengaluru: Ranked 127
Why does this matter? When a city has a low score, it struggles to grow. Big international companies and highly talented workers do not want to move to a city that has bad traffic, poor hospitals, or unsafe neighborhoods.
Global Changes: Better Health, Less Peace
The 2026 report showed two big changes happening around the world:
Hospitals are Getting Better: The world’s overall average score went up a little bit because many countries are investing more money into healthcare. For example, several cities in China jumped higher on the list because they built better medical facilities.
The World is Less Peaceful: The scores for “Safety and Peace” dropped a lot this year. Wars in the Middle East and unrest in parts of Africa caused many cities in those regions to lose points.
What India Must Do Next
This report highlights how much work India has left to do. If India wants to be a top choice for global businesses and provide a good life for its people, it needs to fix its cities. The government and city planners need to focus on all five areas: building better roads, creating world-class schools and hospitals, keeping the environment clean, and making sure neighborhoods are safe for everyone.