Asia-Pacific cities are the top performers in a major survey of the world’s most liveable cities.

The New Zealand city of Auckland has been named the world’s most liveable city by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The Kiwi capital, Wellington, was ranked fourth in the 2021 Global Liveability Index, as cities with effective pandemic responses rose to the top of the rankings.

The EIU says New Zealand’s “tough lockdown” enabled many citizens to “enjoy a lifestyle that looked similar to pre-pandemic life.

Cities are ranked on more than 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Japan’s Osaka was ranked the second most liveable city, joined in the top five by the country’s capital Tokyo.

Australia has four cities in the top ten, with Adelaide the highest ranking at number three.

COVID-19’s “heavy toll on global liveability”

The EIU says there has been an “unprecedented level of change in the rankings”, with the pandemic causing liveability to decline.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on global liveability. Cities across the world are now much less liveable than they were before the pandemic began, and we’ve seen that regions such as Europe have been hit particularly hard,” Upasana Dutt from the Economist Intelligence Unit said.

European and Canadian cities have fallen significantly in the rankings, due to the impact of lockdowns.

Austria’s capital was previously ranked the world’s most liveable city, but Vienna has dropped out of the top 10, falling to twelfth.

Hamburg had the biggest fall, falling 34 places to 47th.

Damascus, in Syria, continues to languish at the very bottom of the rankings, remaining the world’s least liveable city.