Our neighbour has once again retained the position as the Most Liveable City for expatriates in a recent location ratings research report published by ECA international, Singapore has proven itself by winning this status for 15 years in a row.
“Singapore is top of the liveability rankings for the 15th year in a row as its superior infrastructure, low pollution and large expatriate communities continue to appeal to overseas workers” said Lee Quane, Regional Director – Asia at ECA International. “Moreover, while Singapore imposed a circuit breaker to manage the outbreak of Covid-19 within its borders in 2020, the scale of its lockdown was less severe than other locations in the region.”
On a regional level, Hong Kong rebounded significantly in rankings to become the 58th most liveable location for overseas workers, from 93rd place while Australian cities see notable fall in rankings, with Brisbane and Adelaide dropping out of the top ten. Taipei however climbed back into the top 50 most liveable locations, moving up to 46th place.
Hong Kong which has seen a significant rebound in its position in rankings, is attributed to its impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the city was softened by the fall in socio-political tensions and crime rates. Quane said, “Hong Kong has rebounded in our latest liveability rankings after the protests seen throughout 2019 abated last year. Disruptions to the transportation network due to the protests, recovered while crime rates fell. Moreover, Hong Kong was spared from typhoons of a scale similar to those which caused disruption to the city in 2019. However, despite the overall recovery, some areas of Hong Kong’s score did worsen. This includes the freedom of news and media, which has been impacted by the recently introduced national security legislation. As a result, Hong Kong’s ranking remains significantly lower than in 2018.”
Meanwhile, all Australian cities dropped significantly in the rankings. Brisbane and Adelaide fell out of the top ten most liveable places, while Sydney fell from 3rd place last year to 21st.
“A series of different factors resulted in Australian cities falling in the rankings, with the primary reason being the strict lockdown measures which were introduced in some areas of the country in 2020. This affected the recreation scores, as access to social activities and leisure facilities was restricted in an effort to stem infection rates across the country. Flights were also limited, with only Australian or New Zealand permanent residents allowed to enter the country – impacting external isolation scores. Apart from the virus, the wildfires which took place across Australia at the start of 2020 meant that the natural phenomenon score for some Australian cities was adversely affected too,” said Quane.
In contrast, the Taiwanese capital Taipei has climbed back into the top 50 most liveable locations after maintaining the same score as last year, while many other locations fell.
- Major European cities saw significant drop in liveability rankings, with Paris dropping out of the top 100 for the first time
- Cities in the US rose up the ranks, with eight US locations climbing into the top 50 and 27 in the top 100
- Beirut plunges the most globally, falling over 40 places and being placed outside of the top 200.
Nearly every European city included in the rankings saw a drop this year, as Covid-19 restrictions impacted liveability scores. Major cities such as Rome and Lisbon fell over 20 places from last year, while Paris dropped out of the top 100 most liveable locations for the first time.
On the other hand, cities in the US have moved up the rankings, with eight US locations making it to the top 50 most liveable locations and 27 in the top 100.
