global liveability index 2022

Toronto ranked the 8th most liveable city in the world

The 2022 global liveability index is out and Toronto has earned its way back into the top ten after sliding in the rankings during the pandemic.

The Economist's Global Liveability Index 2022 report ranks 172 cities based on criteria including stability, healthcare, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.

Toronto was among three Canadian cities to land in the top ten most liveable places this year, taking the eighth spot on the list from the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company to The Economist magazine.

It's a significant recovery for the city's prestige, one position behind the number seven ranking earned in 2019. Toronto's liveability ranking plummeted all the way down to a pathetic 20th place in 2021 (the report was scrapped in 2020 for obvious reasons), attributed in the index to lockdowns and other public health restrictions.

Vienna, Austria, ranked at the top this year and is now considered the world's most liveable city with a pretty impressive score of 99.1.

Toronto may have recovered from its tumble down the liveability ladder, but it failed to top Calgary and Vancouver for the title of the top Canadian locale, the western cities respectively taking the third and fifth-place spots.

toronto liveability index

Toronto's livability index ranking of 95.4/100 breaks down into a stability rating of 95, perfect scores of 100 in healthcare and education, 95.4 in culture and environment, and 89.3 in infrastructure.

That infrastructure score stands out as by far the lowest ranking of any top-ten city. The next lowest infrastructure ranking was Vancouver, with a score of 92.9.

Calgary was another Canadian city to witness a huge leap in rankings, rising from 18th place in the 2021 report to third place in 2022, now tied with Zurich, Switzerland.

Yes, that's right. Calgary is now considered just as liveable as Zurich.

These climbing rankings are part of a bounceback trend according to the EIU, stating that "Amid the gradual and ongoing shift in the status of covid-19 from pandemic to endemic and a rise in global vaccination rates, the global average liveability score has rebounded."

Lead photo by

Jack Landau


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