Only Tripoli, Damascus rank below Dhaka in EIU liveability index
Dhaka ranked 171st out of 173 cities surveyed this year, retaining the same position from a year ago, with an overall score of 42 out of 100
Highlights:
- Dhaka slipped one spot to rank 171st out of 173 cities
- It ranks directly below Karachi and ahead of only Tripoli and Damascus
- The capital scored lowest in infrastructure at just 27 out of 100
- Education remained strongest category score at 67
- Welfare gains in China and Japan drove Asia's historic recovery
- Dhaka becomes the world's third least liveable city
- Trails regional average score of 74 by a wide 32-point margin
- The global avg score held steady at 76.1 as worldwide stability scores dropped
- Low rank stems from long-term structural and environmental challenges
- EIU index assesses urban quality of life across 173 cities using 30 indicators
Dhaka slipped one place to become the world's third least liveable city in the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Global Liveability Index 2026, even as Asia recorded the greatest improvement among all regions.
Dhaka ranked 171st out of 173 cities surveyed this year, retaining the same position from a year ago, with an overall score of 42 out of 100.
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Only wartorn Tripoli in Libya, and Damascus in Syria are ranked below the Bangladeshi capital.
The EIU said Asia recorded the biggest improvement among all regions, driven by higher healthcare scores in Chinese cities and gains in Japan.
However, it added that the region's average continued to be held back by low-scoring cities in its least-developed countries, "including Dhaka in Bangladesh".
Dhaka scored 45 for stability, 42 for healthcare, 41 for culture and environment, 67 for education and just 27 for infrastructure, the lowest among its category scores.
The report suggests that while education remains a relative strength, chronic weaknesses in infrastructure, healthcare and the broader urban environment continue to undermine the city's overall liveability.
The EIU's Global Liveability Index assesses 173 cities using more than 30 qualitative and quantitative indicators across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
This year's survey found the global average liveability score remained unchanged at 76.1, although stability scores declined worldwide amid geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East following the Iran war.
Improvements in healthcare, especially in China, offset those declines.
Among South Asian cities appearing at the bottom of the rankings, Karachi placed one position above Dhaka at 170th with a score of 43.
At the other end of the table, Copenhagen retained its title as the world's most liveable city for the second consecutive year, followed by Vienna and Melbourne.
Despite Asia's overall improvement, the report underscores that the benefits have been unevenly distributed, with Dhaka continuing to lag far behind the regional average. Asia's average liveability score rose to 74, leaving Bangladesh's capital trailing by 32 points.
The report also points out a widening contrast within Asia, where several Chinese cities climbed the rankings after improvements in healthcare, while Tokyo advanced following gains in culture and environment.
Dhaka, however, remained among the world's least liveable cities, reflecting persistent structural challenges rather than the conflict-related setbacks that affected many Middle Eastern cities.
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.
