2025 Global Liveability Index: Dhaka slips 3 notches, just ahead of war-torn Tripoli, Damascus

Even after billions spent on mega projects, Dhaka sinks to the bottom – now the world's third least liveable city, only ahead of the war-torn Libya's Tripoli and Syria's Damascus.

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In the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index 2025, Dhaka slipped three notches to 171st out of 173 cities, compared to 168th in 2024 and 166th the year before – a consistent decline that exposes the capital's deep-rooted urban dysfunction.

While gleaming metro rails, and expressways promise transformation, they have failed to address the city's most pressing issues: unbreathable air, unending traffic gridlocks, overflowing sewage, fragile healthcare, and a near-total collapse in urban planning.

For the millions who call Dhaka home, basic liveability remains a daily struggle.

The annual index, released on 16 June, assesses 173 cities across five key categories — stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

This year, Dhaka scored 45 in stability, 41.7 in healthcare, 40.5 in culture and environment, 66.7 in education, and 26.8 in infrastructure — with an overall rating of 41.7.

In stark contrast, Copenhagen claimed the top spot on this year's list, ending Vienna's three-year reign as the world's most liveable city.

The Danish capital earned perfect scores of 100 in stability, infrastructure, and education, and scored 95.8 and 95.4 in healthcare and culture and environment respectively, bringing its overall index rating to 98.

Western European cities continued to dominate the upper ranks of the index, while cities in conflict-affected regions of the Middle East and Africa made up most of the lower end.

The EIU's Global Liveability Index is widely regarded as a key international benchmark for assessing quality of life in major cities worldwide.