Dubai and Abu Dhabi rise in list of most liveable cities as Tel Aviv slumps

Capital Park in central Abu Dhabi. UAE cities grew in rankings for liveability worldwide. Victor Besa / The National

Gulf cities including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Jeddah have risen in the rankings of the world's most liveable cities, while Tel Aviv registered the sharpest drop on the list due to the Gaza war.

Sustained investment in health and education was a major factor in strong performance in the Gulf states, the Economist Intelligence Unit said in its Global Liveability Index 2024.

Israel's largest city dropped 20 places since last year, to 112th, due to the conflict with Gaza and the threat of all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Vienna clinched the title of world's most liveable city for a third year, scoring 98.4 out of 100, followed by Copenhagen with 98 and Zurich with 97.1, the index, which ranks 173 countries, found.

Syria's capital, Damascus, retained its ranking as the least comfortable city in the world, with a score of 30.7, with scores for stability and health care "particularly poor". Libya's Tripoli was ranked the next worst city with a score of 40.1, followed by Algiers with 42.

Overall, the average score across the 173 cities in the survey increased marginally to 76.1 out of 100.

"Geopolitical conflicts, civil unrest and a housing crisis across many of the cities" have been affecting liveability globally, EIU said.