The pandemic has had a pronounced effect on the world’s best cities to live in, according to a new report.

New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, finishes top of the Global Liveability Index 2021. According to compilers the EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit), this is largely thanks to New Zealand’s success in halting the spread of Covid-19.

“Owing to border closures and a consequently low Covid-19 case count, New Zealand has been able to keep its theatres, restaurants and other cultural attractions open,” the report says. “Students have been able to continue going to school, giving Auckland a 100% score for education. This has allowed the city to move up from sixth place in our autumn 2020 survey to first position in our March 2021 rankings.”

The Global Liveability Index determines which cities have the best and worst living conditions by awarding them scores in five key areas: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

This year, six of the top ten cities are in New Zealand and Australia, where according to the EIU “tight border controls have allowed residents to live relatively normal lives”. Two Japanese cities, Osaka and Tokyo, place second and fourth “owing to continued high stability scores”.

Only two European cities – Zurich and Geneva – make the top ten, which you can check out below.

1. Auckland, New Zealand
2. Osaka, Japan
3. Adelaide, Australia
4. Wellington, New Zealand
5. Tokyo, Japan
6. Perth, Australia
7. Zurich, Switzerland
8. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Melbourne, Australia
10. Brisbane, Australia

In total, the Global Liveability Index ranks 140 cities worldwide. Two UK cities are featured in the list: Manchester in 54th and London in 60th.

Generally, many European and Canadian cities rank noticeably lower now than they did in autumn 2020. According to the EIU, this drop “can be attributed to the heightened stress on healthcare resources during the second wave of the pandemic”.

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