Which cities motivate people to move?

Are employees motivated to go to these locations? Yep, and for good reason according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) latest survey, the Global Liveability Index 2023. The survey was originally designed to help companies calculate "hardship allowances" for going on assignment to locations globally, rating the best and worst cities around the world from an expat perspective. It evaluates the living conditions in 173 cities across five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. The good news is that the index also suggests that life in cities is a bit better than at any time in the past 15 years. 

For 2023, the world’s 10 most livable cities according to the EIU are:

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Melbourne, Australia
4. Sydney, Australia
5. Vancouver, Canada
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Calgary, Canada
8. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Toronto, Canada
10. Osaka, Japan, and Auckland, New Zealand (tie)

Per the  Economist: "Vienna, with its excellent mix of stability, culture and entertainment, and reliable infrastructure, tops the ranking for the fourth time in five years. Copenhagen, a similarly sized city with many of the same characteristics, is second. Melbourne, a fixture at the top of the ranking in the past, comes in third. In all, nine of the top ten cities are small to mid-sized; all ten, and indeed most of the top 50, are in rich countries."

My question would be is it more challenging then to get people to leave these locations?!!!

Then, for the world’s 10 least livable cities according to the EIU are:

1. Damascus, Syria
2. Tripoli, Libya
3. Algiers, Algeria
4. Lagos, Nigeria
5. Karachi, Pakistan
6. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
7. Dhaka, Bangladesh
8. Harare, Zimbabwe
9. Kyiv, Ukraine
10. Douala, Cameroon

If you want to consider what degree of change occurs, try our post from 2018. What cities do you send your employees to? You'll see that many of these same cities remain on the lists!

Hardship allowances recognize living conditions and acknowledge the challenges your employees face in designated locations. Others in the mobility industry tap into other resources for this type of "hardship" data and to help them calculate "hardship allowances". AIRINC, Mercer and ECA International tend to be the go to resources in our industry!