Lagos, Douala listed among 10 countries with worst liveability index
Lagos and Douala, cities of Nigeria and Cameroon respectively, have been listed among countries with the worst liveability index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
According to the EIU, the two cities – Douala and Lagos – have low liveability index of 43.3 and 32.2 with the cities respectively ranked 164th and 171st globally.
Vienna, Copenhagen and Zurich in Austria, Denmark and Switzerland respectively, were adjudged as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cities with the highest or best liveability index scores of 99.1, 98 and 96.3.
The liveability index, the EIU notes in the report, measures stability, healthcare access, culture and environment, education and infrastructure in 172 selected cities around the globe.
According to the EIU, its liveability index rankings for the last two years have been largely driven by the covid-19 pandemic, with lockdowns and social distancing measures affecting scores for culture, education and healthcare in cities across the world.
Some key findings from the report include;
- A rollback of covid-19 restrictions has translated into liveability rankings resembling those seen
before the pandemic. Vienna (Austria) tops the rankings in 2022, as it did in 2019 and 2018. - Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th has forced us to exclude Kiev (Ukraine) from our
survey. The conflict has influenced rankings for Moscow and St Petersburg (Russia). Both cities
record a fall in scores owing to increased instability, censorship, imposition of Western sanctions and
corporates withdrawing their operations from the country. - Eastern European cities slip in the rankings amid increased geopolitical risks. If the cost-of-living crisis were to trigger further discord in international ties or domestic politics, stability scores would be likely to slide further for such cities next year.
- Western European and Canadian cities dominate the top of our rankings. Life is almost back to normal in these cities on account of high covid-19 vaccination rates and the easing of restrictions. Copenhagen (Denmark) has moved up 13 places from its position 12 months ago, to second, and Zurich (Switzerland) now shares third place with Calgary (Canada), which has risen from 18th position.
- Damascus (Syria) and Tripoli (Libya) continue to languish at the bottom of the list—along with Lagos (Nigeria)—as they face social unrest, terrorism and conflict. However, most of the cities in the bottom ten have improved their scores compared with last year, as pandemic-induced pressures have eased.
- We have added 33 new cities to our rankings, one-third of them in China. This brings the total number of cities to 172, excluding Kiev. Many of the new entrants, such as Surabaya (Indonesia) and Chongqing (China), are already fast-growing business destinations.
