Global Liveability Index 2026 Released by EIU

Global Liveability Index 2026 Released by EIU

#GS-3 #Economy #Infrastructure #Environment #Pollution #Sustainable Development #Current Events #International #Global Liveability Index 2026 #Economist Intelligence Unit

Why in News

  • The **Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)** officially released the **Global Liveability Index 2026**, evaluating living conditions across **173** cities worldwide.

About Global Liveability Index 2026

  • The index serves as an annual benchmark to evaluate and compare living conditions across major global cities.
  • It assesses how effectively urban systems deliver stability, healthcare, culture, environment, education, and infrastructure.
  • The **Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)**, which is the research and analysis division of **The Economist Group**, publishes this index every year.
  • The main aim of the index is to identify the most and least liveable cities by measuring the quality, accessibility, and reliability of urban services.

Five Core Assessment Parameters

  • **Stability (25%)**: This parameter measures crime, terrorism threats, military conflicts, and civil unrest to evaluate safety.
  • **Culture & Environment (25%)**: This assesses climate, corruption, censorship, social restrictions, cultural opportunities, sports, and consumer goods.
  • **Healthcare (20%)**: This measures the quality and availability of public and private healthcare services, medicines, and public health systems.
  • **Infrastructure (20%)**: This examines roads, public transport, international connectivity, housing, energy, water supply, and telecommunications.
  • **Education (10%)**: This evaluates the quality and accessibility of public and private educational institutions.

Performance of Indian Cities

  • **New Delhi** ranked **1st** in India and **120th** globally.
  • **Mumbai** ranked **2nd** in India and **121st** globally.
  • **Chennai** ranked **3rd** in India and **123rd** globally.
  • **Bengaluru** ranked **4th** in India and **127th** globally.

Key Reasons Behind India's Low Rankings

  • Severe air pollution, rising temperatures, poor waste management, and environmental degradation lower urban liveability.
  • Limited capacity in public hospitals and high out-of-pocket medical expenses restrict affordable access to quality healthcare.
  • Unplanned urbanization causes severe traffic congestion, poor public transport, housing shortages, slum growth, water scarcity, and urban flooding.