Helsinki ranks 16th most liveable city

Helsinki ranked 16th among the best liveable cities in the world on the Global Liveability Index 2018 published by The Economist on Tuesday.

The ranking of the Finnish capital on the index has slipped this year from its position of last year and of 2016. It ranked ninth in 2017 and eighth in 2016.

Austrian capital Vienna ranked top on the list, followed by Melbourne, Osaka, Calgary, Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, Tokyo, Copenhagen, and Adelaide.

The Economist prepared the list of which cities are the best – or worst – to live among 140 major cities based on dozens of factors including societal stability, healthcare, culture, environment, education, and infrastructure. The weekly also took city life, crime, censorship, public education, and traffic congestion into consideration.

The war-torn Damascus was at the bottom of the list, followed by Bangladesh capital Dhaka and Nigeria’s Lagos.