A huge city has been named the best place to live in the UK, beating out London. The Economist Intelligence Unit delivered its Global Liveability Index – a ranking of 173 cities across the world by their living conditions.

The index is based on five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Within those, researchers looked at factors such as crime rates, quality of public healthcare, levels of censorship, quality of road networks and dining options. And this year, taking the top spot for the UK is Manchester. It ranked joint 52nd, with Rotterdam, with an overall score of 89.3 out of 100. The city was knocked down nine places from 2024.

It wasn't that far ahead of the capital. London scored 89.2, putting it at 54th internationally. The capital has slid nine places down the rankings since last year. 

It was named the second-best city in the world in the Oxford Economics’ Global City Index and number one in the Resonance World’s Best Cities ranking. 

The report touched on why UK cities didn’t fare well in the rankings, saying: “Three major UK cities lower down the rankings - Manchester, London and Edinburgh - also saw their scores in the stability category fall. 

“The UK saw widespread rioting in 2024, sparked by an attack by an individual on a children’s centre in Southport (during which three children were killed).”

Copenhagen takes the top spot on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index. The Danish capital scored 98 out of 100 overall and scored perfectly in stability, education, and infrastructure.

Vienna, Austria, came second, followed by Zurich, Switzerland, Melbourne, Geneva, Sydney, Osaka, Japan, Auckland, New Zealand, Adelaide, and Vancouver, Canada.